


Covalent Bond

by BarracudaHeart, CosmicTanzanite



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Brief mentions of alcohol in chapter 13!, Canon Character of Color, Child Abandonment, Divorce, Dysfunctional Family, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gay Male Character, M/M, Mad Scientists, Mild Language, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, Takes place after 'The Shadow War!', Trans Male Character, tags will be added as the story progresses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-08-11 07:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 44,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16470965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarracudaHeart/pseuds/BarracudaHeart, https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicTanzanite/pseuds/CosmicTanzanite
Summary: "The stable balance of attractive and repulsive forces between atoms, when they share electrons, is known as covalent bonding."





	1. Chapter 1

“Now, it’s not going to look exactly like it did before the damage, but I did see to it that anything that couldn’t be replicated would be improved upon,” Scrooge explained to his research team as the elevator descended below the sea. “I think you’ll be quite pleased.”

“So long as it’s a lab,” Gyro Gearloose spoke up, matter-of-factly, “I’m perfectly satisfied.”

Scrooge gave a knowing smile as the elevator door opened, and he invited the group to step out. “Take a look around.”

Gingerly stepping out of the elevator and onto the shiny tile floor, Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera took in the sight of the new workspace he’d be inhabiting for the long haul and made no effort to hide his delight as he looked around. “Wow look at all this new stuff! New furniture, new tables, new tools and-GREAT FLYING FLAPJACKS! IS THAT MY OWN DESK?!” He  gasped, rushing over to see his new workspace, complete with technology and seating. No more bathroom office for him!

Upon seeing the fresh haybale with a computer setup next to it, Manny, Gyro’s other assistant, gave a tap of the hoof in thanks to Scrooge as he stepped over and got comfy on the packed straw.

Lil Bulb leaped from Gyro’s shoulder to run its feet across everything inside the lab, to get accustomed to it and store it in its databanks. Blinking its light in approval at Scrooge, it ended up turning a corner behind a desk, destined to be missing for at least a couple of hours until it would be needed.

“Want to take a look around, Gyro?” Scrooge invited his longest-employed researcher.

“I can see everything fine from here,” Gyro assured flatly, a slightly unimpressed look on his face. All this new technology, and Scrooge couldn’t have bothered to put the coffee machine a few feet closer to his desk?

“Dr. Gearloose, you _have_ to sit on these new chairs!” Fenton exclaimed from his desk. “They’re _really_ comfortable!!!”

“Don’t get too comfortable, Crackpot,” Gyro muttered under his breath, only to get a chiding tap of Scrooge’s cane against his leg.

“Gyro, remember. He’s not your intern anymore. He’s your equal,” Scrooge warned, a fatherly furrowed brow aimed at him.

“Right,” Gyro gritted through his teeth. “Forgot about that.”

It had been two months since he’d been in the same room as these people, back when Magica de Spell’s siege on their town resulted in their lab flooding. And it had been two weeks since Gyro had finally been cleared of most all injuries he’d inflicted during the battle. A harsh blast of the sorceress’ magic and a 50-plus foot drop into the water didn’t prove too kindly on his body. At least Mr. McDuck had been generous enough to pay for his three days in the hospital where he received treatment for some cracked ribs, a concussion, several bruises, sprained ankle and fractured wrist. He ended up needing physical therapy for that last one, and the painkillers didn’t help enough to allow him much time to work on inventions at home. He still had a splint on his arm that wouldn’t be allowed to come off for another month. In short, his two month ‘vacation’ from work had been miserable, and a new lab wasn’t making him feel any better.

“Think you can play nice, lad?” Scrooge playfully teased the chicken as he pressed the elevator button to go back up.

“I’ll manage.”

“Good. Do you have the cards?”

“They got... _unfortunately_ destroyed in the flooding,” Gyro muttered, trying not to look too smug that he might have deliberately dumped the infernal things.

“No matter, I made new ones. New lab, new socializing tips! Welcome back to the drawing board!” Scrooge happily passed a stack of 3X5 cards into Gyro’s visibly unhappy hands and stepped into the elevator. He was gone once the doors shuttered.  
  
Sighing and watching as his boss disappeared from his view, Gyro glanced down to the cards. He skimmed them as he started to idly walk toward his desk, reading them under his breath. “Hello, my name is Gyro Gearloose,” he grumbled in a mocking tone. “Is there anything I can d-”   
  
He was cut off abruptly when he felt himself collide with something, causing the cards to drop from his hands and onto the floor. Whatever it was made a small, startled sound, something that Manny, Lil Bulb or any other inanimate object in the space couldn’t do. That left only one option, and it was the least favorable of the four.   
  
“Sorry, Dr. Gearloose!” Fenton gasped, a nervous frown falling across his face upon seeing mess he’d caused. “Here, let me help you with th-”   
  
“I’m perfectly capable of picking up a few cards by myself, _Cabrera,_ ” he snapped, bending over and trying not to visibly wince at the mild pain from his injuries. “Now, go to your room and leave me alone.”   
  
The duck gulped and looked to the side, drumming his hands together. “I’m there….”   
  
Gyro’s eyes shot open in realization and immediately lowered into a glare of disappointment and annoyance. Oh yeah, that’s right. He had to share a space with him now.   
  
And he could already tell that it wasn’t going to be fun.   
  
“Right,” he deadpanned, finally collecting the cards in his hands and raising up with a slight groan. “Go to your _corner_ of the room then. And don’t say a word.”   
  
“O-Okay….” Fenton grimaced and gently tapped his leg with his fist, scooting over so he could let his co-worker pass him. Once he had, he made his way back to his desk and sat in the leather chair Scrooge had put there for him, instantly smiling. “Wow! This sure feels better than that toilet seat-”   
  
He cut himself off upon being able to physically feel the daggers that Gyro was shooting his way. “Right. No talking. Sorry.”   
  
Gyro rolled his eyes and finally sat behind his own desk, having to do so slowly and very carefully seeing that he was still sore and probably would be for another few weeks. They had warned him at the doctor’s office not to take more than two painkillers a day, and he’d taken two before lunchtime even came around. He hated listening to the so-called doctors who he had to share the title with (Did they ever invent sentient artificial life? He didn’t think so!!), but since taking more painkillers than advised would scientifically and statistically result in less pleasant side effects, he begrudgingly would agree to it.

Manny tapped his feet on the floor in communication.

“No, Manny. I’m afraid none of our inventions from the previous lab were salvaged,” Gyro sighed. “We have to start everything from scratch.”

“Except for the Gizmoduck suit,” Fenton piped up. “It’s still in my garage!”

“And why is it in your garage?” Gyro asked, almost accusingly. “Could you not find a dark alleyway with thugs to guard it?” He glanced over with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Fenton’s brow furrowed. “My garage is perfectly safe, Dr. Gearloose. My M’ma keeps the doors double locked all the time.”

“Well,” the inventor consented, “the sooner you can get it in here, the better. I want to keep an eye on it.”

“No problem!”   
  
Fenton smiled a little too optimistically for Gyro’s liking. When the inventor was back to muttering and organizing his personal affects on his desk (which wasn’t much beyond tools and pencils), Fenton tapped in morse code to Manny discreetly. “ _When do you think he’ll lighten up? He’s not my boss anymore._ ”

Manny tapped back quietly enough for Gyro not to hear.

“ _No, I don’t think it’s just the medication making him grouchy. I don’t think he likes me much,_ ” Fenton responded to Manny’s eloquent response in regards to side effects of painkillers.

“If you two are finished playing bongos on your desks, I think we should be getting back to work,” Gyro suddenly spoke up, looking more than a little irritated.

“Y-yes Dr. Gearloose,” Fenton gulped, casting a glance to Manny that said “I told you.”  
  
The duck went back to studying his new space. Although he hadn’t felt like dragging all of his various nicknacks and decorations to work today, he noticed that Scrooge had already put a few things out for him. There was a tape dispenser, a pack of sticky notes, a stapler, a mug with various pens and pencils (and it was even red; his favorite color!) and a brand new desktop computer, along with a mouse and keyboard.   
  
It was perfect….until the hauntingly familiar W logo on the computer caught Fenton’s mind, and he felt his stomach turn a little. He quickly grabbed a pen out of the mug and ripped one of the sticky notes off, spending a few seconds on a little doodle. Once it was done, he stuck it to the bottom of his computer, replacing all traces of anything Waddle-related with a roughly scribbled G-logo that resembled the one on his beloved Gizmoduck suit.   
  
He smiled. Now it was perfect.   
  
However, as a thought crossed his mind, he couldn’t help but frown. Fenton knew he shouldn’t pipe up any more, and that Gyro wished to be left alone, but this was a pretty important matter.   
  
“So, uh….” he began, feeling a little nervous when the other whipped around to face him with a cold stare, “what exactly are we supposed to be working on today?”   
  
Gyro raised an eyebrow and sighed, looking away. “Rebuilding all the tech we lost when our own shadows destroyed nearly everything we had, basically.”   
  
“Oh….is there anything you need me to-”   
  
“I’m not your boss anymore,” Gyro cut him off. “Just do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t involve bothering me.”   
  
Fenton knew he probably shouldn’t continue this conversation, but he was still feeling rather confused. “But….aren’t I supposed to be helping you?”   
  
“Technically, yes, but I don’t need help with my work. You can help me by leaving me alone.”   
  
The duck felt his heart sink a little in embarrassment and slight disappointment. He’d been excited to get back to work. “Are you sure?”   
  
“Yes!” Gyro replied, raising his voice slightly. “I’m positive. Now, be quiet.”

Fenton’s face grew warm as he tried to think of something else to say, but before he could open his bill again, a loud alarm rang through the lab, startling him and visibly irritating Gyro.

“Ah. Yes. Scrooge did mention something about installing an alarm for your little hero exploits.” Gyro rolled his eyes and gave a very insincere smile. “You better go up above and see what ‘Gizmoduck’ can do for our fair city, hmm?”

In spite of the other’s obvious distaste, Fenton was more than eager to leap into action as Gizmoduck and loudly screamed ‘Blathering Blatherskite’ into his phone as he whisked up the elevator. Gyro smiled to himself, glad he would be able to get several hours of peace and quiet, maybe not even needing to see tooth nor tailfeather of the other bird for the rest of the day.

And yet, after only a blissful two hours, did the elevator ‘ding’ again, with ‘Gizmoduck’ wheeling unstably out of the shaft with pie residue dripping from the armor.

“The suit...may need some upgrades,” Fenton spoke up sheepishly as he wheeled back to his desk, ejecting out of the suit and sinking into his chair.

“Mm. Fascinating,” Gyro muttered. “So what even were you able to accomplish, if anything?”

“I helped put out a fire! Well...I just sort of collapsed the roof OVER the fire, which put it out by default…”

“So you destroyed a building? Bra-vah.” Gyro smiled a little too smugly.

Fenton furrowed his brow. “It’s not that funny.”

“I’m just congratulating you on _accomplishing_ something beyond giving me a larger headache than I already have.” Gyro was almost having a little too much fun, cards be damned.

Giving the other a bit of an unapproving look, Fenton decided now would just be a good time to put headphones on, crank up his music and ignore Gyro for now. Grumpiness he could put up with, but he wasn’t too keen about dealing with this brand of bitter. Not for a workday and most certainly not for his entirety of employment.

When 5:00 hit, Manny had already left, tapping something out about heading for the stables (wherever those were). This left only Gyro and Fenton behind as they gathered their personal affects for the day.

“Lil’ Bulb, we’re leaving!” Gyro called out, waiting for his robot assistant to reappear. He grabbed for his coat, passing by Fenton. “What’s keeping you around, Cabrera? You have your belongings, so why haven’t you left?”

“I was just going to hold the elevator for you,” Fenton confessed, trying to be polite. “Save it two trips?”

“Save the elevator the trouble of doing its job? How thoughtful of you,” Gyro sneered, voice heavily sarcastic. “Would you like to hire it as your intern?”

And that was just what it took for Fenton to decide this was not going to continue.

“Y’know, you could be a little nicer to me. We’re working together every day as equals now, and I believe-”

“And what a sacrifice I have to make for it,” Gyro replied dryly, still waiting for Lil’ Bulb to answer to him.

“Shut up.”

Gyro had to double-take. “ _Excuse me_?”

“I said, _shut up_ !” Fenton snapped at him.   
  
There was a few seconds of silence throughout the room as Gyro took a moment to process exactly what was going on. When he finally snapped back to reality, a shocked gasp left his throat.   
  
“Hey!” he spat, narrowing his eyes at Fenton and starting toward him. “You can’t talk to me like that!”   
  
“Why not?” the other replied, standing his ground. “You talk to _me_ like that all the time!”   
  
His words caused Gyro to stop in his place, freezing up a little. “But I’m-”   
  
“Your equal, whether you like it or not,” Fenton reminded him. “And you need to start acting like it.” He began to edge closer to the other, causing him to take a few steps back.   
  
“Listen, Dr. Gearloose,” Fenton continued, voice trembling, “I’m trying my best. Ever since I started working here as your intern, I’ve done all I can to make sure I’m doing everything right, but there’s always something wrong. I’m always screwing something up, and you’re always quick as ever to remind me. Nothing I do, no matter how many times I try to perfect it, is good enough for you!”   
  
Gulping and trying to hide how nervous the whole situation was making him, Gyro opened his mouth to speak. “Heh, yeah, well-”   
  
“Nope, it’s my turn to talk,” Fenton was quick to snap back. “Every time you turned any of my ideas or gestures down, I always felt like the problem, but you know what? I’m not the problem, Dr. Gearloose. It’s _you_ .”   
  
Gyro wanted so desperately to take the upper hand in this conversation. He wanted to knock the little nuisance off his pedestal, to make him feel like he was wrong. But he couldn’t even get a word out if he tried, despite how quick he normally was to respond to similar situations.   
  
“Why are you such a jerk all the time?” Fenton continued to rant, throwing his hands up in frustration. “All I ever try to do is talk to you and help you out like I’m supposed to, and you have the nerve to treat me like garbage? Do you treat everyone like this? Is that why nobody ever comes to visit you in the lab, and you have to carry cards to talk to people? Have you made it your life goal to push everyone away with how bitter and rude you are? Because if you have, that might be your biggest success yet!”

Gyro’s beak looked ready to fall right off his face and clatter to the floor. Clenching his jaw shut, he tried to come up with something to say in retort, but all that could come out was, “I...have a diploma.”

Fenton stared incredulously at the other, amazed at such a stupefied response and slapped his forehead. “Oh for heaven’s….”  
  
He trailed off for a moment, but then said something he’d never imagined saying to almost anyone in his entire life.   
  
“ _Fuck you_ , Gyro. I’m going home.”

The astonished inventor just stood there, brain on dial-up as he tried to think of some witty come back, but it honestly was hard to come up with anything with the same amount of bite that “Fuck you, Gyro” had coming out of Cabrera’s mouth.

“What are you-” Gyro suddenly managed to spit out in question as Fenton entered the elevator with a frustrated glare, letting the door shut sharply behind him and not extending the courtesy of waiting for his coworker to board.

The noise of the elevator rising to the surface soon quieted, and Gyro realized he was standing alone. Before he could process what had just occurred, he felt a tug on his pants leg, and looked down to see Lil Bulb gazing up at him with its tiny arms crossed in disapproval.  
  
Gyro sighed and tried to think of something to say to the little robot, but in all honesty, he was at a complete loss for words. Even his thoughts felt incredibly jumbled. Did _Cabrera_ really just stand up for himself? That was a first. Normally, the guy was the biggest pushover in all of Duckburg.   
  
And come to think of it, maybe he did take advantage of that. A lot.   
  
Feeling his stomach start to knot up with anxiety and something that felt a little like regret, Gyro sighed and pushed the button on the elevator. Hopefully, his coworker had gone home by now, and he could postpone their next awkward encounter until tomorrow.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Fenton had decided to take the stairs down into the lab the next morning instead of the elevator. Partially for exercise, but mostly to kill time before he had to interact with Dr. Gearloose. It wasn’t exactly an option he cared for, but there really was no way to ignore the fact that he’d basically roasted the chicken and cursed him heavily before leaving the other day. The less time they had to stare at each other before starting work, the better.

However, it seemed like fate was truly just out to pick on him this week. As he turned the corner down the stairwell, he was almost beak to beak with Gyro, who had paused his trek down the stairs to look at his phone.

“D-Dr. Gearloose,” Fenton nearly squeaked, trying to sidestep quickly past the other by making hasty steps down the stairs.   
  
Gyro didn’t respond. He continued to awkwardly to stare at his phone for another half minute before slowly continuing down towards the lab.

When he finally got downstairs, Fenton ran to his workspace. He put his headphones right over his ears and tried to look way too focused in staring at the stainless steel finish on top of his desk. He definitely was trying not to pay attention to Gyro’s presence.  

Good. For now, Gyro didn’t want to pay attention to him either...not yet. He kept himself preoccupied with his phone, trying to memorize and study the results of his latest investigation on the Bulbtech search engine.

‘ _How do you make people not hate you when they’re mad at you?_ ’  
  
Fenton tried not to look at Gyro, but that proved too hard for him. He tried turning his music up, idly chewing on a pen, typing gibberish into a word document on his computer, just about everything he could think of and nothing could distract him from what felt like a storm looming overhead. Except the storm could talk, and he was forced to work with it until further notice.   
  
Sighing, he swallowed his pride and glanced over to his coworker’s desk. Gyro had put his phone down and was now flipping through a set of index cards, presumably the ones Scrooge gave him to help with his not-so-favorable social skills. Realizing he was likely the reason for this made a knot form in Fenton’s stomach, and he sighed, getting to his feet quietly and pushing his chair aside. He didn’t want to make things even more awkward, but they weren’t going to get better unless someone said something, and he knew for a fact that Gyro would probably rather die.   
  
Once he’d approached the chicken, he expected him to notice his presence. However, Gyro was too caught up in the cards to even notice Fenton was standing right in front of him. Nervously, the duck cleared his throat, which got the other’s attention in the form of him lurching upright and dropping the cards all over his desk. He winced at the blunder, as well as the unreadable expression that settled on Gyro’s face as he noticed who had approached him.   
  
Fenton drummed his fingers against his legs. “Hey, Dr. Gearloose,” he spoke, trying to make eye contact again.   
  
Gyro stared at him for a second before the gears in his head started turning, and he impulsively reached for the card nearest to him, reading it and blurting its contents out. “Uhhhhhhhhh, the bathroom is on the right, and if you look to-”   
  
“I’m sorry.”

The card almost fell out of Gyro’s hands. “Pardon?”

“I...said some things to you yesterday that were uncalled for. I should have known better than to conduct myself like that, and I’m sorry,” Fenton sighed. “I know you don’t like having me as your coworker, like I know you didn’t like me as your intern. And I know you probably have your own things to deal with beyond research,” he admitted, running a hand through his crest. “I hope you can forgive me.”

Gyro didn’t respond at first, only blinking slowly as if he were taking the whole thing in. Suddenly, a gentle spark of enlightenment lit his eyes, and he gave a thoughtful noise.   
  
“So...that’s how you do it.”

Fenton furrowed his brow in confusion. “Ah...do what?”

“Make people hate you less when they have cause to be mad at you,” Gyro explained, as if it was a plain fact. “I feel less angry and confused at you now.”

“Uh...you do know what an apology is, right?”

“Yes. I’ve just never found any reason to give one to people, and I’ve hardly been rightfully given the ones I’m owed by idiots,” Gyro muttered, sifting through his cards to try and figure out what to do next. “Though, I do have to acknowledge that I was perhaps-” he cleared his throat, “ _difficult_ with you the other day...and maybe even in some cases previously...and for that I….” He tried to make the word come out of his mouth but it got stuck, and he had to rephrase. “I...regret my missteps.”

The duck paused as he filtered out Gyro’s choice in words. “...were you trying t-...are you apologizing?”

There was pause.   
  
“Yes.”

Fenton almost wanted to laugh at how rigid and awkward Dr. Gearloose looked. “Apology accepted.”

“Oh,” Gyro answered flatly, body relaxing a smidgen in relief. “Good.”

“I take it you, uh...accepted my apology earlier then?”

“I suppose.”

“A-Alright!” A dopey smile grew on Fenton’s face, and he walked back over to his desk. “Well, I think I’ll get back to my desk and organize all my stuff I brought in. Knicknacks and everything.” He began to ramble, already on the course of talking Gyro’s half-listening ear off. “Do you have anything for your desk?”

“Everything for my desk is just the tools I use on a regular basis. It’s practical this way,” Gyro sniffed.

“You don’t have any decorations for your space?”

“I had a Rubiks cube months before the lab flooded,” Gyro began, “but I let Manny take it. He seems to appreciate it more than I did.”

Fenton just then noticed the headless man-horse had since come in and was lounging on his hay bale, fiddling with the puzzle cube. He waved a hoof casually at Fenton.

“So...no. I have no decoration for my desk, and I see no real need for it,” Gyro spoke plainly.

“Oh. Do you want any of my stuff? I have a cactus, I think.”

“ _Heavens_ no,” Gyro almost laughed. “All of your baubles are absolute eyesores! I swear I-” He caught himself losing grace when Fenton began to frown and cleared his throat. “Thank you for the offer, but you can keep them.”   
  
“Okay. If you insist.” Fenton furrowed his brows in slight confusion but tried his best to brush it off. “I’m gonna, uhhh….go back to my desk now.”   
  
“Alright,” Gyro responded, sounding rather flat and unemotional but not angry.   
  
As the duck walked back to his desk, he couldn’t help but sigh in relief at how well that went. He hadn’t expected it to be so easy. Gyro didn’t even raise his voice! Well, except for when Fenton had startled him, but that was a scream of surprise, and it was understandable. For now, it was time he focus on his work.   
  
That was, it was until he realized he still wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be doing.   
  
“H-Hey, Dr. Gearloose,” he piped up, hoping it would be taken better than his last few attempts to talk.   
  
“Hmmmm?” Gyro didn’t look up from his computer screen.   
  
“I’m still not sure what I’m supposed to be doing,” Fenton laughed, expecting a snide remark of sorts. However, he only received a small hum of agreement and later, words.   
  
“Me neither,” Gyro groaned, letting his hand slap onto his desk.   
  
“What?”   
  
Another frustrated noise left the chicken’s throat, and he placed his elbow on the desk, resting his head in his hand. “I said me neither. I’m….” He grumbled something under his breath that wasn’t even audible in the slightest.   
  
Fenton cocked his head to the side. “I didn’t quite get that.”   
  
Gyro said the word again, but somehow it sounded even more garbled this time.   
  
“.....I’m sorry, I don’t want to keep asking, but-”   
  
“I’M STUCK!”   
  
The sudden outburst of despair almost knocked Fenton out of his seat, along with the loud thud of Gyro’s head hitting his desk. Before he could collect himself and ask Gyro if his skull was still in one piece, the other burst out into an anxious tirade when he lifted his head up.

“After two whole months of being virtually bedridden and holed up at home with plenty of time to formulate new ideas for inventions to pitch to investors and enable job security, I have nothing! My mind is an absolute blank! I can’t even think of an invention that would remedy the anguish it’s causing me!” Gyro moaned in exasperation, getting his face reaccustomed to the desk again. “I had all of these ideas during our reprieve, and I wasn’t wise enough to save any of them for when I would come back here! I just _had_ to be a genius and accomplish them all in my own home!”  

Fenton watched the inventor lament over the creative block he was dealing with. It honestly was an understandable predicament, especially since Fenton was in the same boat. But Gyro lived and breathed the art of invention and technological progress, so this was no doubt a crisis in his book.

“Stupid stupid stupid stupid-” Gyro whined as he kept bonking his face against the desk, having taken a short second to take his glasses off (he couldn’t afford to break them.)

“That’s kind of the same problem I have, Dr. Gearloose,” Fenton admitted, hoping it would make him feel better. “Maybe it’s just getting back into the swing of things. Or I’m just tired. Maybe that’s all it is for you too.”

“I don’t get tired! Who do you think I am? I just have less caffeine in my system,” Gyro muttered, reaching for his personal mug and made a quick trip to the coffee machine against the wall.   
  
He took a large sip once he was back at his desk, only to spit the beverage out in surprise and yelp in pain. “Mr. McDuck _neglected_ to warn me that the new coffee machine would have a higher temperature! Now, I just burned my tongue! Wonderful! Just what I needed.”

“Really? I thought the old machine was broken,” Fenton admitted, seeing the large cloud of steam coming out of Gyro’s mug.

“Might have been,” Gyro muttered, looking disdainfully at his coffee. “Now I’ll probably end up having to wait too long for it to cool off, and then, it will be cold.”

“That’s the worst,” Fenton empathized. “It’s never how we want it to be.”

“No kidding. With how much I pay that machine every morning, I should at least get a say in what is in the cup,” Gyro muttered, staring at his reflection in the coffee, only for his eyes to go wide. Fenton could see an idea forming in his eyes.

Grabbing a pad of paper and a pen, Gyro began scribbling furiously, a manic grin starting to form on his face. He was murmuring various words under his breath as he wrote them down and shouted for Manny to grab him his tools.

“W-what did you think of, Dr. Gearloose?” Fenton leaned over, trying to see what the other was writing.

“Cabrera, I think I have a good idea for a piece of decor for my workspace now.”

“Oh...really?”

“A mug.”

“...What?”

“Not just any mug, though.” Gyro stood up, grinning. “It will be able to measure the temperature of whatever beverage you are drinking and heat or cool it as much as the user desires! And I’ll make it look tasteful too.”

“So, a thermos?”

Gyro paused, looking annoyed. “Since when has a thermos been able to voluntarily change the temperature of what’s poured inside?”

“Fair point.” Fenton smiled awkwardly. It was kind of a small idea, but with Dr. Gearloose, small ideas like this one always lead to something bigger within the day.

“Should it be voice controlled?” Gyro suddenly asked.

Fenton was surprised to be asked for his input. “Well...yes, I think so!”

“I wasn’t going to consider your opinion much anyway, but I’m glad we’re on the same page.” Gyro smiled matter-of-factly, scribbling out on the blueprints.

“A-Are you worried about this one gaining sentience, though?”

“A coffee mug? Oh, hardly,” Gyro chuckled. “And even if it does, we’ll let Waddle ‘discover’ it and deal with the blowback. It’s been my backup plan for all inventions that go evil during testing.”

“...That’s honestly really dark, Dr. Gearloose.”

“Why, thank you.”  
  
As Gyro continued to draw out his plans for the project, Fenton piped up with another question. “What do you think we’ll need for this?”   
  
“Hmmmm….” Gyro tapped his pencil against the tip of his beak in thought. “I think we should have everything.” He began digging through the drawers at his workplace, muttering the names of the various items he pulled out of them under his breath as he did so. After a few seconds of this, he let out a long hiss of disappointment.   
  
“Something the matter?” asked Fenton.   
  
“I don’t have any more lithium-ion batteries left,” the inventor sighed. “Looks like I’ll have to work with what I’ve got until I have a chance to-”   
  
“I can go get some!”   
  
Gyro’s head whipped around to face the other. “What?”   
  
Realizing he might have said something wrong, Fenton gulped and took a step backward. “I-I mean, I understand if you don’t trust me with a task like that right now, or if you want me to stay out of your way, and-”   
  
“No, no, no, no, no,” Gyro cut in, waving his arms. When Fenton’s voice had been successfully stopped, he looked to the side as if he was afraid to make eye contact. “You’re not going to be much of a use to me just sitting around here all day. You might as well make yourself useful and get me a battery.”   
  
The duck’s eyes grew wide in bewilderment and excitement. “You mean, you’re actually going to let me help?”   
  
“It seems I don’t have a choice.” Gyro looked to him for a fraction of a second, raising his eyebrows.   
  
“Oh, thank you, Dr. Gearloose!” Fenton exclaimed, jumping in excitement. “I promise, I’ll-”   
  
“Ah, ah, just go,” the chicken sighed with a wave of his hand. “The sooner you get this done the better. And also, Cabrera, please just call me Gyro. I’m not your boss anymore, and frankly, the whole “Dr. Gearloose” thing is getting a little weird.”   
  
“O-Okay! Okay, Gyro!” Fenton wanted to shake his hand or something, but he knew it would end badly, so he headed toward the elevator with a smile spread across his face. “I won’t let you down!”   
  
As the elevator dinged, Gyro couldn’t help but mutter to himself. “We’ll see about that….”

* * *

“Dr- I mean, Gyro! I’m back!” Fenton greeted Gyro cheerfully as he re-entered the lab about forty minutes later.

“Already?” Gyro spoke up from behind a stack of blueprints and various parts. “That was relatively quick.”

“It was just to grab a battery, right?”

“Well, yes, but I expected you to take longer.”

“Why?”

“You tend to wander. No offense,” Gyro spoke a little smugly.

Fenton sighed. “Okay, fair enough. But I had a whole pack of these kind of batteries at home, so I saved time by just picking them up. Oh! And I know you probably already have a mug to test, but I did find this old mug m’ma never used in case you need a second prototype! She thought it was too creepy to drink out of.”

Giving a thoughtful grunt, Gyro looked at the pack of batteries, and the mug with the too-friendly smiley face on it. “Thank you. That will be all.”

“Is there anything else I can-”

“Thank you.”

Fenton paused, then looked around at all the mess Gyro was making while busying his hands and gave an understanding smile. “Just let me know if you need anything, okay?”

“Mhm,” the chicken mumbled, already back in his own little world.

About an hour had passed, and Fenton had been so wrapped up in brainstorming for new ideas (crossing most of them out in frustration) that he didn’t notice Gyro approaching his desk with something in his hand.

It took the inventor nudging the mug of lukewarm water in Fenton’s face to finally get his attention, and the duck stared at it for a second. “Is that the mug I gave you?”

“I didn’t want to risk my own mug if this didn’t work,” Gyro flatly stated. “Want to be the test dummy?”

“Uh…”. Fenton looked at the smiling cup, then at the unsmiling Gyro and gave a good natured shrug. “Alright.”

“Watch closely.” Gyro cleared his throat. “Bulbcup, what temperature is this beverage?”

After a second, a voice came from the cup. “ _Your beverage is 68 degrees fahrenheit, commonly known as room temperature.”_

Fenton stared at the mug in slight amazement, which made Gyro smirk a little. “Now, ask it to raise or lower the temperature.”

Grinning, the duck spoke right into the mug’s smiley face. “Bulbcup, can you heat this up to 90 degrees fahrenheit?”

The cup’s eyes suddenly began to glow a bright red, and its bottom became orange as the coil in its base heated rapidly. Within five seconds, there was boiling water rising out of the cup, spooking Fenton into placing it on the desk, watching it erupt.

Gyro watched the event unfold and clicked his tongue, writing down notes. “Well, let’s fix the bugs on this one and-”

The cup suddenly rotated in place, showing its creepy dead smile at him, and he sighed. “...Alright this one turned evil. We’ll have to make a second one with modifications.”

“Wh-what do we do with this one?” Fenton stared worriedly at the menacing mug.

Gyro thought for a moment, then smiled with a muted sense of mischief. “McDuck Enterprises has a meeting with Waddle representatives on Monday. We can give it to Mister Beaks as a gift.”

Fenton almost laughed in response but had to duck instead to avoid being hit by boiling water that the sentient mug decided to throw at him.

“...That is, if we still have it restrained by then.”

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

The next few days went surprisingly well. Of course, Gyro was his usual quick-to-anger self and threw his fair share of insults around, but overall, it wasn’t too awful. In fact, Fenton almost felt like he was getting better. Although the inventor still wasn’t less snappy with him, Gyro had yet to do anything that made him angry enough to go off on him again, so he’d consider it progress.

So far, they’d made a few prototypes of a few smaller inventions to get the gears in their heads turning, such as a voice-command toaster and altering the soda machine to send the cans directly to Gyro’s desk. However, none of those proved to be very successful, and Fenton found out that getting repeatedly hit in the head with toast is a lot more painful than it sounds, and Gyro discovered a machine launching metal cans at sufficiently high speeds made for a fairly deadly weapon. It might actually result in him winning the Darwin Award for stupidest way to die.   
  
Nonetheless, the two of them had been hard at work because they knew an important meeting was coming up, though it was one both of them would rather not attend.   
  
“Not to be controversial,” Fenton whispered to Gyro as they walked toward the meeting room, “but why is Mr. McDuck even partnering with Waddle? Doesn’t he know about what happened with me and the suit and Mark?”    
  
“I don’t think he knows the extent of it,” Gyro sighed. “Plus, let’s be real, even if he did, he’d probably trust a rabid bear if it’d get him a few dimes...which he might have done on a company retreat that resulted in me needing tetanus shots.”   
  
The duck groaned, shuffling his feet a bit as he walked. “Yikes….well, at least it’s a representative. I think that means Mark won’t be there….right?”    
  
“Yeah. I think so,” Gyro said with a nod.   
  
Fenton breathed out in relief. “Good. If we’re being honest, I don’t think I ever want to see him again.”   
  
“Me neither,” the chicken agreed as they finally arrived to the meeting. As soon as Gyro opened the door, a familiar voice almost instantly shattered his eardrums.   
  
“WHAT’S POPPIN’ SCIENCE BOYS!”   
  
Gyro immediately turned around and tried to gun it out the door. “Nope.”   
  
“Gyro,” Scrooge called out, sounding unamused.

Freezing in place, Gyro stared horribly at Fenton for a long several seconds and whispered under his breath, “I might go to jail at the end of this. I might actually go to jail.”

“Wh-what are you going to do?”

“Try my best not to kill Mark Beaks,” he sighed in determination. Gyro straightened himself up and walked in stiffly, speaking again with forced cordiality. “Good morning.”

“Here we are, my favorite twinky genius!” Mark Beaks gave double finger guns at Gyro. “Hey, how did that hot date a couple months back with one of my techies go? It was great, right?”

“If you mean the pheasant,  _ Todd _ , I decided his choice in coffee was disgusting and left after ten minutes,” Gyro muttered through his teeth, looking unimpressed.

“Awww, you missed out on a great catch!” Beaks egged. “But I bet I can find you another one!”

“Don’t,” Gyro muttered, and took his seat at the meeting table. Fenton sat beside him with a questioning look and he muttered, “He found out in passing that I’m gay, and now every time he sees me, he tries to pair me up with every guy at his company. Says it’s his duty as an ‘ally of the community’ or whatever.”

“How come I didn’t know you were gay?” Fenton whispered back.

“When has that ever been your business?” Gyro rolled his eyes lightly and glanced with a smug smirk at him. “Want to tell me about  _ your _ exciting love life?”

“Okay, okay. Fair point.” Fenton shrugged with an embarrassed smile.   
  
“We can discuss other matters later,” Scrooge spoke, causing everyone to stop in their tracks and look at him. “It’s time we get started.”   
  
“First of all, why do we need to collaborate with anyone?” Gyro asked. “Especially him?”   
  
“Because I think a little collaboration would be good for you, Gyro,” his boss replied in a scolding tone.   
  
“You already stuck me with the blabbering blatherdork over here,” he groaned in response. “Isn’t that enough collaboration for you?” Fenton frowned a little at Gyro’s new nickname for him.   
  
“Awww, c’mon, buddy,” Beaks said with a teasing smile. “The more the merrier, right?”   
  
Gyro stared ahead with rage in his eyes, not even bothering to look at the parrot. “If you say one more thing, so help me, I will rip your tongue right out of your beak.”   
  
“Someone forgot to read over his cards today, eh?” Scrooge grumbled to Fenton, who nodded.    
  
“I heard that!” Gyro spat back. “And I skimmed them this morning.”   
  
Rolling his eyes, Scrooge continued what he had to say. “I decided this collaboration would be a good idea after the incident with Magica De Spell. We can’t risk something like that happening again, and if it does, we need to have the proper technology to fight against it.”   
  
“And you don’t think I’m capable of doing that by myself?” Gyro questioned.  
  
Scrooge cleared his throat awkwardly. “It’s not that you’re not capable, Gyro. It’s just….”    
  
“All his stuff tries to kill everyone, right, Geezer?” Beaks cut in, looking to Scrooge with that awful smirk on his face.   
  
The billionaire groaned. “You could’ve put it a lot better….”   


“Not  _ everything _ I make has tried to kill people!” Gyro argued. “And at worst, it has just  _ maimed _ .”   


“That’s...not exactly better,” Fenton mumbled, remembering his injuries from the Gizmoduck incident months and months back.

“Whose side are you on here?!” Gyro stared at him with an accusatory gaze.

“Calm down,” Scrooge cut in. “You’re getting worked up over nothing. You spend plenty of late nights by yourself in that laboratory that having another company assisting should be considered a nice break for you.”

“You know I hate having less work!” the inventor whined to Scrooge like an angry teenager.

“Yeesh, you gotta get something called a personal life, Gy-guy,” Beaks sneered cooly, texting on his phone. “It might make you less of a  _ sociopath _ and rub off on your projects.”

It was blatantly obvious that the second comment definitely struck a bit of a harsher nerve to Gyro than anything else had, as he went unnaturally silent and rigid. Scrooge had a concerned look on his face, and Fenton instantly knew that Beaks had taken it too far.

Before either Scrooge or Fenton could say anything in Dr. Gearloose’s defense, the inventor simply stood up and calmly walked out of the room towards the elevator. 

Scrooge glared with annoyance at Beaks. “Did you have to go and say that?”

“What? It’s what we’re all thinking,” the parrot said with a shrug. “Right?”

“No,” Scrooge answered flatly. “I’m just thinking you liked taunting him on purpose.”

“Astute, grandpa.” Beaks smiled obnoxiously. “So, are we still down for doin’ some collab?”

Fenton gave an incredibly reluctant look to Scrooge, as if to silently beg for him to decline. He didn’t want to have to pitch any of the inventions he and Gyro came up with to Beaks, much less be in the same room as him.   


Scrooge glanced at him for a second, then at the parrot. “I...think we’ll postpone this for another time. Maybe when you and my researchers can stop going at each other’s throats.”

Fenton almost melted in relief, glad he didn’t have to explain anything.

Beaks seemed surprised at Scrooge’s sudden change of heart but quickly masked it with a smile. “Your loss.” He stretched as he got up from his chair and coolly walked for the door. “Just hit me up when you’ve decided to actually get some cool stuff done, McDuck. Quackchat me! I send the BEST reply GIFs.”

“No thank you,” Scrooge muttered, making sure the parrot had left through the stairwell before he slouched in his seat, looking exhausted. “I knew they’d fight. But I didn’t think Beaks would take it that far. I won’t blame Gyro if he doesn’t want to work with him.”

“Me either, sir,” Fenton muttered, looking guilty.

“What was it you two were going to present to us anyway? A toaster?”

“It was a few things, but that was one of them...we’re starting with the small ideas.” 

“Eh, let me know when you get some bigger ones.” Scrooge smiled with good nature, then gave a concerned look towards the elevator. I probably should go check and make sure Gyro’s alright.”

“I-I can do that, sir,” Fenton assured with a thankful smile, glad that he wouldn’t have to deal with Mark Beaks for the rest of the day.

When he got down to the lab, Gyro was at his desk, using a screwdriver on the toaster he and Fenton made days earlier. Even though his gaze was on the invention, he still looked like something was distracting him.

“...Gyro?” Fenton spoke up.   
  
The inventor stirred a bit, as if he was startled by Fenton’s voice. He relaxed only a little when he determined the source of the noise.    
  
“What?” he spoke coldly, looking back down at whatever he was working on.   
  
The harshness in his tone made Fenton shrink back a little, but he knew the other probably wasn’t in the mood to say much at all. That still wouldn’t stop him from checking up on him.   
  
“Are you okay?”    
  
Gyro gave him a stone cold glare that made him gulp. “I don’t know, Cabrera. What do you think?”   
  
“I-I think, uhhhh….” Fenton stammered, wringing his hands. Finally, he sighed. “Look, Gyro, don’t let anything that no-good hack has to say get to you. If there’s anything I learned from my-”   
  
“I don’t need a pep talk,” Gyro stopped him, looking back down at his work. “It won’t do anything.”   
  
“B-but, I just want to-”   
  
“I know you want to help, okay!?” he cut him off again, clenching his fists. “I get it! You think you’re everyone’s little hero. Well, you’re not mine.” Gyro sighed and narrowed his eyes, staring at his desk. “I don’t need anyone’s help.”   
  
Fenton understood every word that was thrown at him, but something told him it wasn’t the truth. Still, he knew by experience that it was better to leave Gyro alone when he asked for it. Hanging his head and swallowing everything he wanted to say, Fenton started to head toward his desk. But before he got there, he turned around to give the brooding inventor one last look.

“...You’re not a sociopath, okay? I know you don’t want me to say more, but I’ll just say that.”

Gyro didn’t shift his gaze whatsoever, still glaring at the toaster he was tinkering with, but he made no biting remarks, which was...better.  As he sat down, Fenton turned on his computer and opened up his brainstorming document, typing down whatever he could think of. 

“By the way, we’re not collaborating with Waddle anymore. Scrooge called it off.” Fenton figured it was important to know.

While Gyro’s expression and posture didn’t change, after a few seconds, he spoke flatly. “Good.”

“Yeah,” Fenton echoed. “Good.”

“The less I have to see Beaks and his stupid fads, the better,” the chicken muttered, putting the screwdriver down. 

“Sentiment shared,” the other mumbled. “I really don’t like that guy.”

“Does anybody?”

“I don’t know. But I really don’t.”

“Well, he did try to steal our technology.” Gyro shrugged, still not that invested in the conversation.

“Yeah, and...more than that.”

“Did he try to hook you up with his employees too?”

“No…” Fenton scratched at his bill. “It’s complicated.”   
  
“Complicated?” Gyro asked, suddenly whipping his head around to make eye contact with his coworker.    
  
Fenton couldn’t help but feel a bit more uneasy now that he knew the inventor was actually paying attention to what he had to say. He hadn’t exactly gone into detail about any of the things that happened during his time at Waddle, not even to his M’ma. In fact, he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to talk about it. The whole thing wasn’t really something he enjoyed reliving. But it was often that he actually got Gyro’s attention, so he didn’t want to go back on his promise.   
  
“Yeah,” the duck sighed, rubbing his arm nervously. “I know it was probably most about using the suit and all, but it almost felt like he kinda used….me?”   
  
Gyro cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean?”   
  
Fenton gulped, running a hand through his hair. “Well, I don’t know how to describe it, really. The whole thing was just me being forced to run around Duckburg and perform everyday tasks for people who didn’t even need any actual help. And if I saw someone who did and tried to assist them instead, the attachments he added to the suit would more or less electrocute me.” He laughed awkwardly. “That wasn’t fun. Also he’d always talk about how he “owned” me or whatever, like I was some kind of tool instead of a person, and…..”    
  
His voice trailed off, realizing how he’d been rambling on for quite some time, and that Gyro still had his default, rather unreadable expression on. “I-I’m sorry. I got carried away with that. I’ll stop.”   
  
There was a few moments of silence, and Fenton felt it consuming him. Why did he have to go and make everything awkward? Gyro didn’t care about his problems! Why would he?   
  
Then, a voice distracted the duck from his panicked thoughts. “That sounds rough.”   
  
“P-Pardon?” Fenton squeaked, still rather embarrassed.   
  
“If it were me, I would’ve punched him,” Gyro grumbled.    
  
“Oh.” Fenton couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the comment. “I don’t know. I wanted to keep things civil.”   
  
“Of course you did.”

“What other option is there? End up going to jail and having Mr. McDuck come to bail me out?” Fenton gave a wary look at Gyro.

“Look, that was one time, and they expunged my record...sort of,” Gyro scoffed. “Anyway, you could stop being a walking doormat for once. Do you realize how frustrating it is watching you get taken advantage of by absolutely  _ everyone _ ? I mean, yesterday, those triplets had you doing their chores for pete-sake!”

“They did?” Fenton gasped, genuinely stunned. “I thought they just didn’t know how to do laundry.”

“They do, and they do it quite well,” Gyro muttered, disdainfully rubbing his finger along the lip of his coffee cup. “I’m saying this in full sincerity: you really need to stand up for yourself more.” He glanced at Fenton, almost disappointed. “I was impressed when you actually managed to chew me out last week, and I only can wonder if that’s going to last.”

Fenton stared at his feet, knowing Gyro was making some good points, but it still was too obvious not to state. “You didn’t care about that back when I was your intern.”

Gyro paused in place, seeming to realize his own hypocrisy and glanced with the smallest amount of shame at his coffee. “...You’re not wrong,” he muttered, “and in all fairness, even though you do have to seriously grow more of a spine...Scrooge says I need to exercise  _ compassion _ a little more.” He made a face as if the word was foreign and sour on his tongue.

“It’s not that bad once you start exercising it. It gets easier.” Fenton grinned.

“Easier to get sucked into,” Gyro mumbled, putting his coffee down and crossing his arms. “Look, Cabrera, I’m speaking from experience here: you can’t let people treat you like garbage.”

“Did people really treat you like that?”

“You saw an example of it just today.”

Fenton knew there was something up with Gyro, but with how outspoken and socially ungraceful he was, he had to wonder if there were things he didn’t know about. And it probably wouldn’t be good to ask.

“Guess that’s why we both really hate Mark Beaks,” Fenton spoke up after a moment with a half-smile on his face.

A mirthless chuckle came from Gyro’s throat, and he got up. “Sounds about right.” He walked over to their invention table, picking up the recently restrained ‘evil’ coffee cup they’d invented earlier. “Now while you wouldn’t want to go to jail...you could have this darling little nightmare mailed to Waddle HQ as a ‘gift’ to Mr. Beaks.”

As Fenton looked at the creepy face on the mug and the smug smirk on Gyro’s, he couldn’t help but grin as well.

“Want to help me giftwrap it?”

“Gladly.”

* * *

As soon as his car had exited the parking structure of McDuck Enterprises, Mark Beaks began to glower at his phone screen. This had not gone how he was expecting at all. The initial plan was to get in connection with McDuck so he could have access to all of his research team and their geniuses. Waddleduck hadn’t turned out how he wanted, but for a time, it made his company way more money in months than any of his other ventures had. If he got close enough to those nerds down in their lab, he’d get his hand on whatever new plans they had, and he could get a share in whatever McDuck Enterprises made.

But if he couldn’t collaborate with them, he’d just have to take their work some other way….some way that wasn’t going to get him technically charged with stealing. That might prove difficult. He’d gotten lucky when the nerdy little intern had leaked Gearloose’s work on the internet, and even luckier when he flat up hired Gizmoduck for his enterprise, but they were definitely too wise for that now. 

Just as Beaks was going to ask his driver how much he thought it would take to bribe Gearloose to work for him (not including his own death via walking off a cliff as the chicken had bargained before), he caught sight of one of Gearloose’s weird little inventions, the dumb little lightbulb thing (Lil Bulb was it?) sailing a makeshift sailboat on the water. Lil Bulb saluted to the passing car as it drove past (on second thought, it looked more like the robot’s own version of the middle finger), and the parrot suddenly got an idea.    
  
He smirked coolly as he began to type vigorously into his phone. There was a lot of work to do in little time.

 


	4. Chapter 4

“So why are you here again?” Gyro muttered as he stood by Fenton’s desk.

“I work here?” Fenton stared up sheepishly from his computer.

“No, no, I mean after five. You know you can leave.” The seasoned inventor glanced at him with skepticism, trying to peek at the papers he was working on.

“Well, why are you still here?”

“...I like working late.”

“I want to try and get accustomed to that. And what better way to do it than trying to come up with and start development on an invention of my own overnight?”

“You’re gonna drop dead by five am.” Gyro shook his head with a smirk. “You’re definitely not used to this sort of work.”

“Better late than never!” Fenton insisted, still ever-so cheerful. “Besides, I have tea. Tea keeps you awake right?”

Gyro stared into Fenton’s mug. “That’s just hot water.”   
  
“Yeah….” Fenton replied, looking confused as ever. “I know.”   
  
At first, Gyro thought his coworker was playing some kind of sick joke on him. But then he remembered that it’s Fenton he’s dealing with here. “Wait a second, do you know what tea is?”   
  
“I mean, I’ve made it every morning for several years,” Fenton said nervously. “It’s just really hot water you make in a kettle….right?”   
  
The inventor opened his mouth to speak but realized that perhaps this was a subject better left for another night. “Forget it. What are you even working on?”   
  
“I’m trying to brainstorm our next big invention!” Fenton beamed, sounding rather proud of himself. The innocence in his tone made Gyro snicker.   
  
“Oh, really? I thought we agreed to start on the glasses with automatic wipers tomorrow morning?”   
  
“We did,” the duck answered him with a small nod, “but I was thinking that maybe we could still start on something….bigger.”   
  
“What do you even mean?”   
  
“It’s just….” Fenton paused for a minute in an attempt to work out what he wanted to say before actually putting it into words. “We’ve been busy with a lot of….smaller things, such as the glasses and the mug, for the past few days, so I was thinking we could start something that’s really gonna….help people?”   
  
Gyro gasped, sounding offended. “Hey! You have no idea how many times I have to clean my glasses, nor do you understand how incredibly inconvenient it is for me to.”   
  
“First of all, I’ve worn glasses before, so I do. I just switched to contacts because they make me look more presentable. And second of all, of course those inventions help people, but I was thinking more along the lines of…..” Fenton tapped his pencil at the end of his bill for a few seconds before stretching his arms out, “saving lives.”   
  
The chicken scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Is that all it is with you? Hero crap? You’ve already hijacked my robotic armor and made it your own for those purposes. What else do you want to drag my name into?”

“That’s what I wanna figure out!” Fenton answered cheerfully, kind of amused at how worked up Gyro seemed. But it also felt different. Less actual anger and more sharp banter. 

Gyro had been screaming at him less over the last couple of weeks since they had started working together, and while he still wasn’t openly warm or welcoming, his sharp wit and complaining had started to become more endearing. It was a slow process, but perhaps within a month, Gyro would actually wish him a good morning. Or at least maybe give him a wave when he walked into the lab.

Soon, 9 PM hit, and Fenton was starting to get hungry. He looked over to Gyro. “What do you usually do for food on late nights?”   
  
“I don’t,” Gyro replied.   
  
“What!?” A gasp left the duck’s throat. “That can’t be good for you.”   
  
“Eh.” Gyro shrugged and went back to tinkering with whatever he’d been working on.   
  
There was a moment of silence. Fenton tried his hardest to get back to brainstorming, but his grumbling stomach wouldn’t let him focus on anything else. He groaned and glanced back toward Gyro.   
  
“Certainly you must have some snacks in here?”   
  
“Yes. I do,” the inventor answered, “but they’re mine, and you’re not getting anywhere near them.”   
  
“Oh.” Fenton sighed. Fair enough. “In that case, I might go get something.”   
  
“Good luck finding somewhere that’s still open,” Gyro snarked in return.   
  
“Y’ever had late night tacos?”

“What?”

“There’s places open 24 hours that M’ma and I visit a lot! Best authentic tacos I’ve ever eaten.”

“Nearby?”

“Well...within ten miles of Duckburg-”

“Pass.”

Fenton sighed. “Okay, fine. Maybe another time then because you haven’t lived until you’ve tasted a carne asada plate from-”

“Cabrera, either get something to eat or be quiet. Please,” Gyro responded sharply. “I’m very busy.”

“Okay, okay,” Fenton mumbled, rolling his eyes. “Y _ ou’d probably be a lot happier if you ate something too, Mister Grouchypants _ .”

“Come again?”

“Sorry to have disturbed you, Gyro.” Fenton smiled widely and decided to scout the nearby vending machines for food. Scrooge was loaded enough to have a machine on each floor, so a trip up the stairs every couple flights seemed promising.

Unfortunately, with so many floors and so many machines, Fenton discovered that anything below the fifth floor was unlikely to have been restocked in years. And all that was left in the sub-level machines was years-old saltine packets and some rolls of mints.

He decided to look in Manny’s desk, in spite of Gyro giving him a questionable glance but found only hay. 

“Gyro,” Fenton sighed, and walked over, “I will pay you at this point to share any of your snacks with me.”

“You could just go home and eat!” Gyro groaned in exasperation. “There’s nothing keeping you from going home! It’s really not a big deal.”   
  
“But I don’t want to go home!” Fenton retorted.   
  
“Then stop complaining and work on your big special hero idea and stop whining to me!”   
  
“Then give me something to eat!”   
  
“It is my job to work alongside you,  _ not _ feed you!”   
  
“But you’re withholding snacks from me! You said it yourself that you don’t even eat them!”   
  
“I am saving them for an emergency, and you being too stubborn to get your own food is no emergency!”   
  
“Gyrooooo, pleeeease! Just give me the snaaaaa-”   
  
“Ugh, fine! You want it? Well, come and get it!”    
  
Gyro raised his voice and roughly yanked one of the drawers to his desk open. He thrust his hand inside and pulled out a bag of brightly-colored candy, immediately throwing it as hard as he possibly could. The bag went flying across the room and landed against the wall with enough force for it to pop open, spilling its contents all over the floor.   
  
The two of them simply stared at the mess for a while, before Gyro gave Fenton a glare. “If you want them so bad, just eat them off the floor. But do it quietly. Some people here are actually trying to-”   
  
Fenton cut him off as he erupted into laughter like Gyro had never seen before. He threw his head back and beat his hand against his desk, grabbing it slightly to avoid falling out of his chair. All Gyro could do was stare at him and raise his brows, in both annoyance and slight concern.   
  
“D-Did you see th-that!?” Fenton choked out between laughs. “Th-they just….they….they exploded!”   
  
“Mmmm, yeah. They did that,” Gyro answered, starting to get a little unnerved at how funny his coworker found this.   
  
“You just….a-ah, man, you just threw them and th-they….they….KA-BLAM!” Fenton tried to imitate the explosion with his hands but in the process, found himself leaning back too far in his chair and on the floor in seconds. Somehow, this only made him laugh harder.   
  
Fidgeting awkwardly, Gyro got out of his seat and pulled a bag of potato chips out of the drawer. He nervously walked over to Fenton, who was still about to choke on his own loud laughter and dropped them on his desk.    
  
“Here….just….take these. You’ve obviously going mad with starvation.”

“Oh my god, thank youuuuu!” Fenton cheered with a giggle and began to happily munch on the chips.

Gyro stared at his coworker, then the colored candies on the floor and sighed as he went for a broom. Sleep deprivation affected people in strange ways, and his coworker’s case surely was one of the strangest.

By 1 am, Fenton was relatively sated and quiet which was a relief for Gyro, who had spent at least 40 minutes sweeping the mess.

“Hey, Gyro, what time do you usually go home after these nights?”

“I don’t.”

“Alrighty then! I won’t either!” Fenton smiled, looking ready to pass out at any moment. “I should get some more tea.”

“For the last time, plain hot water is not tea,” Gyro groaned, rubbing his forehead as he finished off his fourth cup of coffee.

“Well, it’s better than straight black coffee,” Fenton mumbled. “How do you have any tastebuds?”

“How do  _ you _ ?”

“You’re kind of an asshole,” Fenton mumbled tiredly.

“So I’ve been told,” Gyro muttered, chalking it up to Fenton being tired and slightly amused to hear him insult him so childishly. “Any ideas for your big project?”

Before Fenton could tell him he was going blank, the sound of his head hitting the desk in sleep spooked Gyro a moment, and he almost immediately heard the quiet snoring. Gyro rolled his eyes and sighed. At least he’d have peace and quiet until dawn. Or so he thought.

Two hours later, he was startled out of his work-heavy daze by the sound of Fenton groaning in his sleep. Before he could snap at his coworker to pipe down, or wake him up, the duck shot up, eyes wide as he exclaimed, “CORPORATE SPIES!!!! THEY’RE AFTER US!!!”   
  
“AHHH!” Gyro shrieked in terror, dropping the pencil he held onto the floor in shock. Once the initial shock had died down, he whipped around to glare daggers at Fenton. “Cabrera! What in the world was that!?”   
  
Fenton still seemed rather shaken up himself, for he was rubbing his forehead, and his eyes were darting around the room as if he was searching for something. “Wha….but….they were just here-”   
  
“Nobody was here, idiot,” Gyro sighed, rubbing his forehead before bending down to pick up his pencil. “You were dreaming.”   
  
“Huh?” Fenton rubbed his eyes and suddenly, a sigh of relief left his throat. “Oh! Thank goodness. Crisis averted! Haha. It was just a nightmare.”   
  
“Yeeeeah, no kidding,” the inventor snarked back. “What were you even dreaming about anyway?”   
  
The duck took in a deep breath, and Gyro instantly knew he was going to regret prying. “I was in the lab, with you and this big, tall man who I’ve never seen in my life, which will be important to the story later so remember that, and we were doing some kind of….work. I don’t remember exactly what it was. Perhaps something to do with that self-driving lawn-mower we tested all those months ago that almost gave you a buzzcut. Or maybe it was those scissors that-”   
  
“Will you just get to the scary part already so I can get back to work?”   
  
“Right! My apologies.” Fenton laughed bashfully and cleared his throat. “Nonetheless, suddenly, the strange man whose name I cannot remember turned on us! It was so realistically terrifying, Gyro! He threw you against the wall as if you were nothing, and you didn’t even have the strength to defend yourself! Actually, you didn’t even really try. You just flopped over like a pancake! I think you died.”   
  
Gyro didn’t know if he was supposed to be offended or not, but what the other had described involving him definitely deserved an eyebrow raise of slight disapproval.    
  
“As for me, I tried to fight him off, but even the Gizmosuit was no use! And he just ripped the flashdrive containing whatever it was we were collaborating on out of the computer and lept out the window-”   
  
“Wait! Our lab is underwater,” Gyro pointed out. “The flashdrive would have stopped functioning upon contact with the ocean, and the man probably would have drowned. You shouldn’t feel threatened by an idiot who can’t even figure out an escape route that won’t get him killed and his stolen information destroyed.”   
  
“You don’t have to critique my dreams,” Fenton muttered under his breath. “I can’t help it if they’re weird.”

“Actually, science these days says that you can if you-”

“Gyro, please be quiet now.”

The inventor almost wanted to laugh at Fenton’s weak attempt to assert himself but simply shook his head in exasperation. “Nobody would ever try to spy on our lab...well, actually, I wish they’d attempt it because then we know our work is enviable and highly sought….” He began mumbling to himself, too low for his co-worker to hear.

As Gyro was left in his own tangent, Fenton tried to erase the dream out of his head. The idea of someone coming into his workspace, gaining his trust and tricking him just was too unsettling. After what happened while working at Waddle, it certainly was hard to trust people these days.

And suddenly, he had an idea.

“I’VE GOT IT!” he suddenly yelped in glee, standing on his chair.

Gyro gave a high pitched shriek of surprise. “What?!”

“I have an idea for a new invention!” The duck rushed over, shaking Gyro’s shoulders in excitement and staring him in the face. “It could be something that really makes a difference!”

“L-e-e-e-t  m-e-e-e-e g-o-o-o-o!!!” Gyro shouted as he was being shaken and sat upright with his glasses askew. “What?”

“So my dream...even if the where and why and how don’t make sense...there is always the possibility that someday Mr. McDuck might accidentally hire someone who could steal our work or sabotage the company or try to kill us!”

“That last option doesn’t seem likely, but go on,” Gyro answered, deadpan.

“And we both know Mr. McDuck is smart and probably can smell a rat from a mile away, there’s always someone out there who could be really good at masking what they really are thinking...with the same technology that we used to wire Gizmoduck to my brain...we could invent a machine to read brain waves-”

“So a lie detector.”

“A better lie detector. It will actually be able to show what people are thinking!” Fenton grinned right in the chicken’s face.

Gyro stared at Fenton expressionlessly for a solid five seconds, then spoke up. “It has plenty of cause for error, and it could take several weeks, but it’s better than the voice command toaster.” hH glanced over at the broken invention on the ‘failure’ table behind him. “And it’s within the ‘play it safe’ ballpark to keep our funding from being yanked by those buzzards.”

“So you’re in?!”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Nope! This is going to be great, Gyro!” Fenton cheered as he ran over to his desk again and began furiously writing out everything needed. “Who would have thought I’d get this much accomplished in just one night?!”

Gyro glanced at him working away and rolled his shoulders tiredly, almost a silent shrug.

_ I had a hunch you’d figure something out soon. Just no idea what or when. _

 


	5. Chapter 5

“Hey, you got your splint off!” Fenton noticed with a delighted smile as he and Gyro accompanied each other on the elevator down to the lab a few weeks later. “Did you get it off over the weekend?”

“Actually, no.” Gyro flexed his now-free wrist. “It’s why I left early on Friday. Stupid doctor’s office couldn’t bother to let me come in Saturday or even just take it off myself…” he grumbled. “I think I can remove a splint myself without causing further bodily harm, Doctor I-have-a-stethoscope.”

“...You tried to take it off by yourself, didn’t you.” Fenton smiled a little mischievously.

“They put it on impossibly tight!” Gyro suddenly snapped and stepped off the elevator. Dumping his personal affects at his desk for the day, he made his routine visit to the coffee machine.

Fenton was opening up all of his files on his computer that were relevant to the multiple projects they were working on for Mr. McDuck when he was startled nearly out of his chair by a screech of surprise. 

Gyro hadn’t expected the coffee machine to spit out coffee as violently as it did, enough to splash out of the cup he was holding and onto his hand. He dropped his cup as the hot coffee hit him, and it thankfully didn’t break. 

“Are you okay?!” Fenton gasped, seeing the chicken gripping at his hand.

“I’m fine!” Gyro gritted through his teeth, face curled in pain and hurried over to the nearest sink to run cold water on his hand. “Just stupid hot coffee...right after I got this arm fixed…”

“Wow, if I burned my hand like that, I’d be on the floor crying my head off.”

“Maybe you would, but I don’t cry,” Gyro muttered as he kept running water on his arm.

“It’s okay to be upset though-”

“I do get upset. I just don’t cry,” Gyro insisted. “I never have really.”

“Not even at movies where the dog dies?!”

“Oh please, it’s actors sobbing over a trained dog. What’s so sad about that?” Gyro muttered, shutting off the water.

“Have you ever cried?”

Gyro paused in thought, then shrugged. “Maybe when one of my inventions involving tear gas backfired on me, but otherwise...not that I can think of.”

"Wow...weird.” Fenton scratched his head, turning to say good morning to Manny as the intern came from the elevator just then, refreshed from the weekend.

Manny tapped his hooves in greeting and shook off his umbrella before putting it aside. It had been pouring rain the last few days, courtesy of the mid-autumn weather, and it didn’t look like it was going to stop anytime soon.

“Lil Bulb, please don’t forget to hang up your coat,” Gyro suddenly spoke to his tiny robot assistant, who Fenton then noticed was clad in the tiniest little yellow raincoat he’d ever seen.

“Aww, did you make that?” Fenton smiled. “It’s adorable.”

“I know,” Gyro answered deadpan, looking at Lil Bulb with the utmost pride an inventor/single father could have. 

“Where’s your coat?”

“I don’t need one.” Gyro shrugged. ‘I stay indoors most of the time, and it’s not cold enough for my winter parka.”

“Wow, you’re really braving the elements,” Fenton teased lightly, getting to work.   
  
“I’m a lot stronger than you think, Cabrera,” he shot back, walking back to his desk.   
  
Fenton didn’t really know how to respond to Gyro’s latest remark, so he got to work. The two tinkered away for hours and neither really said much to the other except for the occasional question from Fenton and snide remark from Gyro. Nothing notable or out-of-the ordinary happened.   
  
When it finally came around time for Fenton to head home, he stretched and got to his feet. He’d gotten quite a bit of work done on his projects, mostly planning on the mind-reading device he’d thought of earlier and was pretty satisfied with how things were going. Therefore, he’d go home to treat himself to a nice dinner and a few Darkwing Duck reruns.    
  
“I’m gonna call it a day,” he announced, looking over his shoulder to Gyro.    
  
“Okay,” the inventor replied, not even glancing up from whatever he was typing.    
  
“See you tomorrow!” And with that, Fenton grabbed his coat, gave a goodbye nod to Manny and Lil Bulb and pressed the button for the elevator. 

When Fenton arrived home, after taking a nice hot shower and changing into more comfortable clothes, he decided it would be a good time to start making dinner before M’ma got home from her late shift. After a thorough look through the cupboards and the fridge however, Fenton realized there probably wasn’t anything he could exactly make beyond corn flakes and milk. And his mother definitely was not going to be in the mood for that.

Grabbing his raincoat and umbrella yet again, he headed back out, deciding a quick trip to the corner store and picking up some ready-made hot food wouldn’t be a bad idea. It would save time on cooking, and he was sure it would feel nice on a day with miserable weather like this. Thankfully, the store wasn’t too crowded, and after picking out everything both he and M’ma liked, Fenton was humming to himself as he began the drive back home.  

At a standstill in traffic, he looked out his passenger window and swore he could see a familiar figure in the rearview mirror. Slightly smeared in the droplets on the surface, he could be mistaken, but he was pretty sure he saw Gyro.

A few seconds more and another look, and Fenton was then  _ certain _ it was Gyro.

Rolling down the window, Fenton tried to get a better look. “Gyro? Is that you?”

The drenched inventor looked up in surprise to hear his name being called, and once he caught sight of Fenton in his car, he groaned in exasperation. “What do you want?!”

“Why are you out in the rain? You’re soaked to the bone!”

“I’m fine, Cabrera!” Gyro singsonged irritably from the sidewalk, rain dripping off his beak. “I LOVE the elements of nature just like any other person!”

“...Did you walk all the way from work to here?”

“Well, I certainly didn’t  _ fly _ here!” the other almost screamed, spooking other passersby on the sidewalk.

“Gyro, the bin’s almost four miles away! How long have you been out here?!”

“Long enough that I’ve stopped feeling my extremities!” Gyro shouted. “And long enough to miss my bus...three consecutive times!!”

“Oh jeez…” Fenton frowned. “Get in my car, and I’ll drive you-”   


“No, no!” Gyro spoke with fake cheer. “I’m  _ living _ in this weather! I am truly one with nature at this point-”

“Will you just get in the car already, you stubborn chicken!?” Fenton shouted, unable to stop himself from the insult. “The light’s gonna turn green, and you’re gonna die of hypothermia.”

Gyro stomped over to the car to admonish Fenton for daring to insult him, but as soon as he opened his beak, the car behind Fenton’s honked loudly. The soaked bird screeched in surprise, yanking the car door open and quickly climbing in.

As soon as Fenton had hit the gas and was driving down the road, Gyro gritted his teeth. “Don’t. Say. A word. About this. To anyone.”

Fenton could hardly care less, instead taking a concerned look over at the other. “Gyro, you’re shivering!”

“I’m fine.”

The duck made no response as he turned the heat up. “Give me your address. I’ll put it in the GPS.”

Gyro simply typed it in himself, leaving wet spots all over Fenton’s phone screen and glared out the window, muttering about the stupid bus again.

“Why didn’t you just use a rideshare app?”

“Half of them are owned by Waddle, and I’ve been banned from all the others for the dumbest of reasons.”

“I won’t even ask. I know you probably cursed out the driver.”

“HE LOOKED AT ME FUNNY!” Gyro snapped angrily.

Fenton sighed. “Why don’t you just drive? Mr. McDuck could let you use one of the company cars. You’ve worked with him long enough that it shouldn’t be a big deal.”

“That would work if I errrr…” Gyro coughed something incoherent.

“What was that?”

“I...don’t have a license,” the chicken admitted, not sounding too proud.

“But you invent cars all the time!”   


“That doesn’t mean I can drive them,” Gyro muttered. “Did you not see the absolutely hysterical meme I posted on my social media account last week? ‘Repost this if you are gay and can’t drive?’ Why else would I have posted that if it weren’t true?!”

“Gyro, it might be a good idea for you to try and get your license.” Fenton didn’t want to comment on it much. “It would be a good alternative to waiting for the bus.”

“Are you just going to nag me this whole ride, Cabrera?”

“Yes.”   
  
As Fenton continued to drive as the GPS directed him, he noticed them getting further and further away from the more popular places in Duckburg. He frowned as he began to notice how run-down and abandoned the buildings were starting to look, graffiti present on nearly every single structure that surrounded him.    
  
“Um….are you sure you typed the address in right?” he asked the soaked chicken sitting in his passenger seat.   
  
“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I know where I live?” Gyro pouted and sunk down in the seat with his arms crossed like a stubborn child.   
  
“Okaaaay….” Fenton made the next turn as ordered to by the GPS, studying his surroundings as he did so.    
  
“It’s on this street here,” Gyro informed him.   
  
The duck looked at the sign with the street’s name on it, and his beak dropped open in surprise. “Wait, Marsh District? You live here?”   
  
Gyro didn’t say a word. Instead, he averted his stare to his right and seemed to be pretending that Fenton wasn’t even there.    
  
“Gyro-”   
  
“Yes! Yes, I live here! Just go ahead and laugh at me already. I don’t care,” Gyro snapped, throwing his hands in the air for a minute before crossing them over his chest and moving around in his seatbelt to where his whole body was almost facing right in an attempt to avoid Fenton’s gaze.  
  
Fenton frowned. “I wasn’t going to laugh at you. Just make sure I’m getting your apartment complex right. There’s a lot of them here.”   
  
“Third on the left,” Gyro muttered, his words barely audible.    
  
Nodding, Fenton pulled into the building the inventor had pointed to. It sure didn’t look like somewhere he imagined Gyro living. He knew he lived in an apartment, but for some reason, he always thought he’d have a really nice one. These were possibly the furthest from nice you could get.    
  
The brick was faded, and it looked like some kind of mold was growing on the walls. In fact, the place didn’t look like it was very well-occupied. Everything in this area of town kind of looked like something left behind of another civilization. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how lonely it must be to live in such an isolated area of town and by yourself at that.    
  
_ No wonder he’s always in such a bad mood…. _

Once Gyro had unbuckled his seatbelt and swung the door open, Fenton tried to keep his ear open to hear some sort of ‘thank you.’ but all he heard was some noncommittal noise and Gyro headed inside without a word.

Sighing, Fenton texted his M’ma to her know he’d be home soon with dinner if she made it back before he did. As he waited for any sort of quick response, he saw something on the floor of the passenger seat in the corner of his eye.

“Aw nuts, he forgot his hat!” Fenton mumbled. “He’s...not gonna be happy about that.”

Now stuck with a dilemma, Fenton wondered if he should call Gyro and ask him to come downstairs and grab the hat or say he’d keep it until tomorrow. But then what if Gyro got mad at him for not having his hat returned sooner? Or thought Fenton was stealing it? And if he didn’t tell Gyro, the chicken would realize soon enough his beloved thinking cap was missing and have a royal tantrum.

Sighing, Fenton turned off the car, texting his mom that he’d be running a little late and hurried inside the rundown building. He took one of the bags of hot food he’d bought with him, not thinking much of it. It wasn’t too hard to figure out which floor Gyro lived on. There was only about seven names listed on the wall directory and no security codes on the front door either, which made Fenton rather uneasy. 

Heading to the third floor, Fenton repeated the door number in his head and eventually found it, faded and long overdue for repair. He took a few seconds to think over what he’d say before he finally decided to knock.

After about ten seconds, Fenton wondered if he had the wrong door before it suddenly swung open. “For the last time, witch, if you want your cat back you’ll have to behave-OH MY GOD, CABRERA WhAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” shrieked Gyro, who had since changed into a tank top, boxers and nothing else and was wielding a broom.

“AAh!” shrieked Fenton, backing up against the opposite wall. “I’msorryI’msorryIjust-”

The door slammed, and Gyro screeched through the door for him to get lost.

“Y-You left your hat in my car! I wanted to give it back,” Fenton squeaked, still plastered against the wall.

After ten more seconds of tense silence, the door opened again slightly, and he could see Gyro glaring through the crack. “Gimme.”

“Uh...are you going to hit me with that broom you were holding?”

“Depends,” Gyro hissed slightly, looking wary.

“R-Relax, I just wanted to return the hat-wait, did you say something about giving a cat back?”

The chicken rolled his eyes. “I thought you were my horrible neighbor. She has like 40 something cats, and she won’t stop banging on my walls at 2 am when I’m working. So I took one. I think he likes me more anyway.”

“O-oh.”

“Can I have my hat back?”

“Y-Yeah! Just don’t hit me with the broom, okay?”

Gyro awkwardly opened the door the rest of the way and dropped the broom to prove he was now unarmed. “What’s in the bag? It smells.”

“O-oh, it’s carnitas. My M’ma’s favorite. I thought you’d like some.”

“Is it like whatever those 24-hour taco places you tell me about make?”

“Kind of!”

A pause. 

“You can come in. I guess.”   
  
“You sure?” Fenton asked a bit uneasily.   
  
“Don’t make me change my mind.”   
  
“O-okay! Okay, I’m coming in.” Fenton let out a small laugh and stepped foot inside of his coworker’s apartment.    
  
Upon entering the apartment, the first thing the duck noticed was that it was insanely small. It basically boiled down to a single room, a kitchen area and a bathroom in the top right-hand corner. Not to mention how messy it was. Every corner was either littered with some article of clothing, notes from work or leftover food. Fenton noticed just how bad it was when he found himself stepping on a slice of half-eaten pizza.   
  
“Uh….Gyro?” he asked, grimacing at the feeling.   
  
“Huh?” The chicken turned around and studied why Fenton had called him. All he did was snicker. “You’ll get used to it.”   
  
“Oh….heh.” He wiped his foot off on the box that was sitting nearby and carefully made his way toward Gyro through the mess.   


A small glass bowl full of murky green water sat on top of a table. “What’s this?” he asked Gyro.

Gyro looked over, slightly confused. “Oh. That’s a fish. I think. It’s been a while since anything moved in it.”

Fenton backed away, slightly horrified. His foot brushed against something as he stepped back, and he craned his head around to see a fluffy gray and white cat was sniffing at him.

“Uh...is this the cat you stole?”

“Not stole. Confiscated,” Gyro corrected.

“Right...so...do you...clean this place often?”

“I don’t see much of a point. I spend far more productive time in the lab.”

“Gyro...I’m going to be honest with you, your place is a mess.”

“Hey, do I judge your home life?!” Gyro folded his arms, looking angry.

“Yes?”   
  
The chicken frowned, realizing he couldn’t argue with that. Instead of attempting to, he waved it off with a movement of his hand.    
  
As Fenton carefully stepped over the various knick-knacks, edible or not, scattered across the floor, he caught sight of Gyro’s bed. It was pushed to the side of the room and looked like it hadn’t been made properly in months or even washed at all. The sheets were hanging off to the point that they were almost on the floor, and the pillows looked more like really flat rocks. Fenton’s back hurt just thinking about having to sleep on that every night. No wonder Gyro slouched so much.   
  
He walked over to the kitchen area, where Gyro had taken a seat at a very uncomfortable-looking chair pushed up against a bar that he appeared to use as a table. Food wrappers littered the area, and dirty dishes were piled so high in the sink that it didn’t even appear to be usable anymore.    
  
Fenton couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow for his coworker’s living conditions. Suddenly, more and more about Gyro’s personality made sense. If this was what the duck had to look forward to every day after work instead of a nice warm supper and friendly conversation with his M’ma, he would be a less pleasant person as well.    
  
Come to think of it….where were Gyro’s parents? Did they know he was living like this? Surely, if they were anything like M’ma, they’d try to pitch in to help him. However, that seemed like too personal of a question to ask, especially since the inventor was one of the most closed-off people he’d ever met.   
  
“So, when are you leaving?”    
  
Gyro’s voice startled Fenton from his thoughts. “Pardon?”   
  
“You’re just standing there and staring at me,” Gyro groaned. “Don’t you have all that food to eat?” He glanced down at the bag in his coworker’s hand, cueing Fenton to do the same.   
  
“Oh….” Fenton frowned. He was right. The food was probably going to get cold if he didn’t leave soon, especially with the rain. But something was telling him that maybe he wasn’t the one who needed it most.   
  
“Actually,” he continued, “I was going to ask if maybe….you wanted this?”   
  
Gyro’s eyes shot open in confusion. “Huh? You’re giving me your food?”   
  
“I mean, sure. Why not?” Fenton laughed. “I can pick something else up on the way home. I’m not sure if I’m hungry enough for all of it anyway, and my M’ma will understand.”   
  
Of course, Fenton hadn’t exactly expected Gyro to take his offer without a few stubborn remarks. However, he didn’t really expect the slightly defensive expression making its way on the chicken’s face either.   
  
“Why are you doing this for me, Cabrera?”   
  
Fenton gulped, starting to get a little bit nervous as he tried to think of a way to explain what inspired the act of generosity. “Well….you just….y-you looked hungry, so I-”   
  
“What do you mean by that?” Gyro was staring at him now and looked like he was ready to get out of his seat.   
  


“N-nothing, I just-”

“I can feed myself, thank you very much!” The chicken glared defensively at Fenton and rifled through his cupboard, grabbing a musty looking container of oatmeal and a dirty bowl. He poured the container’s contents in the bowl, trying not to cough from the dust that came out of it. He then added a container of milk that looked pretty lumpy. Staring at the final product, Gyro tried to keep his reserve and snapped. “See?”

Fenton looked at the disgusting spoiled oatmeal mush and sighed. “Gyro, why won’t you just let me help you?”

“Let you help me?” Gyro almost scoffed. “I don’t need charity or pity, and I certainly don’t need help from someone who just wants to feel good about himself.”

Having had about enough of the sour attitude and hostility, Fenton dropped the bag of food on the table in annoyance. “You know what? Take it. I’m just gonna leave, and let you be alone if that’s really how you want to live your life, being mean and angry for no reason at all and living in a crappy apartment on the edge of town.”

He left without even waiting for an answer as he slammed the door behind him.

When he reached the end of the hall, the irritation melted away and was quickly replaced by guilt.

As angry and mean as Fenton thought Gyro was being, he was kind of right. Gyro didn’t ask for help, and Fenton shouldn’t have pushed it on him like that...and he probably shouldn’t have brought up how horrible the place was. He was certain Gyro was fully aware, and it wasn’t his ideal living arrangement. He’d been embarrassed to get dropped off in front of such a place to begin with.

Fenton didn’t even think to stop at the store again to replace the food he’d given away. When he arrived home with what remained, he just lied to M’ma and told her they ran out. He didn’t have much of an appetite anyway. 

Once he was sitting on his bed, Fenton picked up his phone and started typing out a text to his coworker.

_ Hey Gyro, I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to make you feel embarrassed and I didn’t mean to upset you. You were right to be mad at me and I’m sorry for being so pushy. I hope we’re cool. _   
  
While Fenton was debating on whether or not to use a smiley face, a notification stating that he’d received a message lit up his screen. It was from Gyro.

_ Thank you for the food. _

__


	6. Chapter 6

“How many incarnates of inventions for reaching things on shelves have either of us created over the years?” Fenton mused aloud as Gyro tested one of his latest inventions.

“I myself have done at least five, including the function in the Gizmoduck suit. And even so, I hardly use the machines myself,” Gyro muttered, watching the miniature lift extend its arms to reach the top of the shelf.

“No wonder,” the duck laughed as he rooted through a box of parts. “You’re so tall, you can just about reach for anything.”

“Well, that, and the bookshelf in here is just...very climbable.” Gyro smirked nonchalantly and demonstrated by scaling the four shelved case to grab a book from the top. “See?”

“I see how it could be really dangerous,” Fenton muttered. “What if you fell or tipped it?”

“I have incredible balance for my height and weight, and this case is practically bolted to the wall. It’s never budged!” Gyro bragged, hopping back to the floor with a dramatic pose to show off.

“Wow, Dr. G,! You must be an acrobat,” Launchpad complimented as he spoke from the chair he was sat in. “Did you ever join the circus?”

“...No,” Gyro sighed at the stupidity of the large man’s question. ”Nor do I plan to.”

“I think this prototype is ready for its first test!” Fenton exclaimed as he wheeled over what looked like a modified record player, its data printer where the records should be. He then slipped something resembling an exercise band on a wire over Launchpad’s head.

“Alright, Launchpad! Are you ready for us to figure out what you’re thinking?”

“You bet,” the pilot said with a determined smile. “Because I don’t even know.”

Once the machine was activated, and all of the mechanisms began turning, Fenton waited for the needle to start drawing out the various lines to signify data it was gathering. After two whole minutes, there was nothing.

“Darn. I don’t think it’s getting anything.” Fenton looked over to Gyro who was watching with muted curiosity.

“Well, it  _ is _ Launchpad.” Gyro stared at the benevolent but vacant smile on the test subject’s face.

“I  _ am _ Launchpad! Thanks for noticin’, Dr. G!” The large duck’s smile widened at what he believed to be a compliment

“Even then, there would be some sort of activity,” Fenton mumbled and sighed as he took the band off Launchpad’s head. “Prototype #5 of the mind reader needs more work.”

“Aww. Well, it looks cool when it moves everything and lights up!” Launchpad tried to cheer Fenton up as he wheeled the device towards the other half of the lab down the hall, leaving Gyro alone where he stood.

The chicken decided to get back to his own invention when he realized he’d left his pair of pliers on top of the bookcase. Instead of using the invention he’d just created, he took the simpler approach and scaled the shelf again. 

As his feet stepped onto the third shelf, he heard a creak somewhere, but didn’t think much of it. He then placed his foot on the fourth plank, and suddenly, everything shifted, and he felt himself going backwards. Gyro only had about a tenth of a second to shriek as the heavy case toppled right over, and everything went black.   


 

“Gyro! Gyro! Can you hear me?”   
  
The inventor’s eyes blinked open, and he was instantly hit with an intense pain in his head. He groaned, slowly bringing a hand up to rub his sore temples as his eyes focused on a big blob that was directly in front of him. As he slowly officially gained consciousness, Gyro realized that it was Fenton, staring right into his eyes with one of the most worried expressions he’d ever seen on the guy.

Also one of the most blurry expressions...where were his glasses?   
  
“Wh-Wha-”   
  
“Gyro!” the duck automatically exclaimed, voice dripping with relief. “Ah! I thought you were seriously hurt! I was just about to call the hospital.”   
  
“Huh?” Gyro felt as if he’d just woken up in another dimension, and he tried to rack his tired brain for memories.    
  
“The bookcase fell right on top of you! I was seeing Launchpad out, and suddenly, I heard a loud crash! I knew something terrible had to have happened, so I called for the suit and immediately made a dash for the-”   
  
“Wait!” Gyro’s eyes widened as he remembered everything, and his body shot up like a reanimated corpse, catching Fenton off-guard. “I tipped the bookcase onto myself!?”   
  
“Yes!”   
  
“How long was I out?”   
  
“Just a few minutes, thank goodness,” his co-worker informed him. “How do you feel? Are your limbs okay? Does your head hurt? Because you could have a concussion, and if that’s the case, then we should-”   
  
“I’m fine,” Gyro groaned, although his head did hurt quite a bit. However, the last thing he wanted to do was go back to that awful doctor’s office. He’d rather get permanent brain damage at this rate.   
  
“Are you sure? There’s really no way you can be one-hundred percent fine after that, and even if you feel okay, we should probably make sure you actually are okay.” Fenton extended a hand. “Here, let me help you up, and we can-”   
  
“What did I say about trying to help me when I clearly do not want it?”

“And what did I say about climbing the shelves like an animal?” another voice popped up from behind him.

Gyro turned his head to see Scrooge McDuck approaching the couch he just now realized he was laying on.

“Lad, how many times did I warn you about pulling stunts like that?” The billionaire shook his head as he handed Gyro his glasses, not looking too pleased to see the mess on the floor. “You could have gotten killed! If Fenton here hadn’t pulled you out from under there in the time that he did, you could have had a lot worse than wounded pride.”

“Like crushed lungs,” Fenton piped up.

Putting his glasses back on, Gyro rolled his eyes. “Statistically, it was unlikely that this would have happened though, and you know I-”

“Gyro.” Scrooge’s voice was stern like a disappointed parent.

Groaning, Gyro averted his gaze. “Okay. I should have known better.”

The duck seemed to accept the non-apology and smiled. “How d’you feel?”

“I feel fine, really,” he sighed. “Just embarrassed...and my head is a tiny bit sore. I don’t think I’m concussed though.”

Taking a look at his employee’s head for a minute, Scrooge shrugged. “Just a lump, it seems. Not too serious. However, because it’s an injury on company grounds, I have to send you home anyway.”

“What?! That’s absolutely ridiculous!” Gyro exclaimed.

“Sorry, Gyro.” Scrooge smiled as he headed to the elevator again. “Liability policy. I’ll have Launchpad drive you.”   
  
When their boss was nowhere in sight, Fenton looked to Gyro with a slight frown. “I’m sorry, Gyro, but he does have a point.”   
  
“Pffft.” The chicken rolled his eyes and slowly walked over to collect his things. “Liability policy! I’ll show him a liability policy! Why, I-”   
  
“Gyro, please. Now’s not the best time to make elaborate revenge plots against your employer,” Fenton sighed, walking over to help him collect his things. He picked up his coffee cup and held it out for him to take, giggling awkwardly as it was snatched from his hand.

“And if I were you,” Fenton decided to add, “I’d get your head examined.”

“You get your head examined,” Gyro muttered, which caused Fenton to sputter slightly with laughter.   
  
Once his coworker left, Fenton began to tinker with his invention. However, he noticed that working without Gyro was a bit harder than he thought it would be. Sure, the two didn’t exactly have full-length conversations when they shared a workspace, but something felt a little empty without him here, and it was definitely effecting his ability to work.   
  
After getting basically nowhere for about an hour and a half, Fenton sighed and laid back in his chair. His eyes wandered toward Manny, who was fiddling with that Rubik’s cube Gyro had given him.    
  
“Hey, Manny?” he asked.   
  
The man-horse whipped around, his statue head staring Fenton right in the face. He tapped his hooves in response.    
  
“I’ve been thinking, and I need a second opinion on this, but….do you think Gyro is okay?”   
  
Manny tapped out another reply, this one longer. Fenton frowned.   
  
“Yeah, I know he’s done this on five other occasions and has made it out just fine.” He rolled his chair around. “But I don’t know. I kind of feel like I should….reach out to him? Make sure he’s really alright, y’know?”   
  
Although Manny’s eyes were not capable of rolling, the duck knew they would have by what he tapped next.   
  
“No! I-It’s not just because I miss him! I’m simply concerned for my coworker like any sensible person would be!” Fenton thought for a moment. “Although, his presence is rather calming in a way. Even if he does yell a lot….”   
  
Manny tapped one final reply, facing back toward the Rubik’s cube after.   
  
“Hmmm. I suppose you’re right. He would chew me out.” The scientist looked down to his cellphone. “Maybe it’s best I just leave him alone….”   
  
Fenton groaned and picked the phone up, pressing on Gyro’s contact information and holding down on the call button. Manny tapped out something else.   
  
“Hey! I heard that! I’m not trying to kiss his a-” The sound of someone picking up the phone sounded in Fenton’s ears, and he turned away from his lab partner. “Gyro! How’s it going?”

“I’m missing a day’s worth of work,” Gyro answered flatly on the other line. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to make sure you got home okay,” Fenton answered a little sheepishly.

“Cabrera, if Launchpad burst into the lab suddenly screaming that I was dead, then you have cause to worry for me,” the chicken spoke flatly. “But he most certainly did not do that, so I’m fine. My headache has subsided, and I am “taking it easy” as suggested by Mr. McDuck.” Fenton could almost hear the finger-quotes. 

“O-oh….good!” The duck smiled. “Y-you still have that cat of yours?”

Gyro slowly put down the large volume he was reading out of onto his lap and spoke warily. “What is this all about, Cabrera?”

“I-I just said I wanted to make sure you were okay after that whole accident with the-”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” he spoke, still sounding skeptical. “Why are you constantly being nice to me? I give you plenty of cause to avoid me, but you still worry over my life as if it’s constantly in danger.”

“....Because isn’t that what friends do?”

A long pause.

“When did I ever suggest that we were friends?” Gyro questioned, not in a callous way but with genuine confusion.

“Well…” Fenton began, “you didn’t suggest anything. I kind of assumed.”

“Hm. I see.” Neither a negative or positive response. Just a thoughtful one. “Is that why you gave me that food a month ago? And drove me home? And stopped the bookcase from asphyxiating me?”

“Uh...sure?” Fenton decided that was a good enough reason. “Did you like the food I gave you, by the way? I never asked.”

“I did actually,” Gyro admitted. “I wanted more of it.”

“That’s great!” Fenton let out a nervous yet relieved laugh. “Y’know, my M’ma and I have dinner like that every Thursday if you’d ever want to join us.”

“We’ll see.” A flat response, and then later the dial tone as Gyro hung up.

  
  



	7. Chapter 7

 

“So uh...my M’ma can be kind of...intense. Just warning you ahead of time,” Fenton spoke up sheepishly as he parked in front of his house. Gyro stiffly sat in the passenger seat. “But she’s really nice! I promise. She’s great with first impressions.”

“Is she the woman who threatened to turn me into nuggets if you didn’t wake up in the hospital back when the processor exploded?”

“....Mmmmmaybe?” Fenton felt his stomach drop with anxiety.

“Ah. I know her then,” Gyro groaned. “She made it very clear that she did not like me as your employer.”

“Well, now you’re my guest, so she has to like you now!” The duck grinned as he headed around to the passenger side to open the door. It had been three weeks since he had invited Gyro over for dinner, and the chicken was finally taking up the offer. Sure, his social skills were still terrible, and he seemed to have no other outfit than the one he wore to work every day, but it did look decent!

“Is that a cactus in front of your house?”

“Señor Prickly? Yeah! He’s been standing firm since before I was hatched.”

“Fascinating. Did you know this particular genus of cactus is capable of impaling one’s heart if they were to fall on it just so?” Gyro touched the cactus’ surface, careful of the spines. “If you took pieces off of it, you could make formidable weapons from them.”

“I did not know that, and please do not make any mention of that to M’ma!” Fenton chuckled nervously.

“Mention of what?” M’ma spoke up as she stepped outside the front door.

“N-Nothing, M’ma!”, Fenton smiled and shoved Gyro forward. “You remember Gyro Gearloose? Right…?”

Gyro looked ready to run into traffic and was trying to smile as genuinely as he could in spite of the fact this woman could most definitely kill him. “Ms-I mean Mrs.-I mean, ah...Miss Cabrera, it’s very nice to see you again! I was just admiring your _Carnegiea gigantea!”_

She stared at him, crossing her arms. “Come again?”

He gave an awkward laugh, thinking it went over her head. “Your Saguaro cactus?”

She nodded but still seemed wary of him, and his nervous manner of standing and speaking.

Gyro was cursing internally and inhaled a deep breath, embarrassed at what he was about to say. “Señor Prickly?”

Her face immediately lit up. “Ohhh, you noticed him! I swear he’s getting bigger every year!”  
  
She began to chatter excitedly about the unsaid third family member, and Gyro glanced over to Fenton, who gave an apologetic shrug.  
  
The two nervously followed M’ma inside as she continued to discuss the cactus. Fenton was listening to something he’d more than likely heard a million times before with a blissful smile on his face, reacting with laughs every now and then. However, Gyro just couldn’t focus. He tried, especially since he wanted to give the impression that he was listening, but it was hard to hold focus on anything when it felt like his heart was about to leap from its chest, especially something he had minimal interest in.  
  
“Ahh!” Gyro squawked as he felt his leg collide with something hard. He looked down and realized he’d been so preoccupied with his nerves that he failed to notice how close he was to the table. Both Fenton and his M’ma were looking at him, blinking their eyes in bewilderment.  
  
“You okay, Gyro?” Fenton asked.  
  
“I’m fine!” Gyro snapped at first but upon noticing the glances M’ma was throwing his way, cleared his throat and tried again. “I mean, yes. I’m okay. Thank you for asking!” He flashed Fenton a shaky thumbs-up.  
  
The duck sighed, realizing that his coworker was freaking out.  
  
“Take a seat,” M’ma instructed, glancing down to the chair next to Gyro.  
  
The chicken nodded in response and pulled the chair out from underneath him. That was when he noticed how short the table was in comparison to him, as well as how his legs didn’t exactly fit underneath and stuck out on either side. He grimaced at how uncomfortable it was, cursing himself for being born with such long, slender legs.  
  
Fenton comfortably sat down next to Gyro, flashing the other a warm grin.  
  
“So, what have you two been up to at work today?” M’ma questioned, wrapping up dinner in the background.  
  
“I’ve been working on one of my biggest solo inventions yet!” Fenton explained, beaming. “It’s still in its rudimentary phase; however, I have high hopes. We’re going to test it out again in a few days, I believe, aren’t we?”  
  
“Oh, that old thing? Well, I suppose….” Gyro’s voice trailed off as he could feel the hostility in the room between him and the older woman as he so much made a remark that hardly implied he thought lowly of her son. “Yes. Yes we can.”

The answer seemed to satisfy her, as she wasn’t subtly glaring any daggers towards Gyro after that, and soon enough, she was dishing out some pretty delicious-looking selections. Gyro tried to examine them from his seat at the table, noticing something that looked like the stuff Fenton gave him earlier, small little tortillas, rice and sauce. It definitely looked and smelled more delicious than whatever he had stuck in his fridge.

Once everyone was served, Gyro took a tentative bite of everything and almost shivered at how great it tasted. He hardly had time or resources to cook like this for himself these days, and he wouldn’t mind asking for a recipe if Fenton would lend it. As he ate, he tried to catch the conversation between Fenton and his mother as they discussed each other’s respective day. And even if he wasn’t part of the conversation, he didn’t mind listening.

It had been years since he’d had a meal with anyone else like this before...and it had been even longer since he found it somewhat of a comfort.

“So, Gyro, what does your family do? Are they inventors like you?” M’ma asked once he had finished the last bite on his plate.

The inventor tensed up a little and shifted his gaze aside to the floor, something Fenton noticed. “...Most of them, yes.”

“That sounds cool! Coming from a whole family of inventors,” Fenton decided to comment, wondering if it was something Gyro was nervous about revealing. Sometimes family legacy stuff could be embarrassing to talk about. “Do you guys have reunions to show off all the stuff you make?”

Gyro looked more than a little uncomfortable, and Fenton regretted asking.

“No….we don’t talk much these days. Most of my extended family members are inventors, and my grandfather, but not my immediate family.”

“What do they do?” M’ma asked.

“I don’t know,” he spoke rigidly.

After a long and tense silence, Gyro suddenly stood up and excused himself to use the restroom.

M’ma stared at Fenton once their guest had left, looking a little bewildered. “ _Dios mio_ , did we just open a can of worms?”

“I think so,” Fenton mumbled. “Maybe I made a mistake mentioning family like that. He lives alone on the edge of town.”

“Ayy…” she sighed. “Probably not a good situation for him then.”

A long period of silence followed, and Fenton picked at his meal for the next five minutes.

“I should go make sure he’s okay,” Fenton sighed.

“Please do,” M’ma replied. “I don’t want him getting lost in our house.”

“M’ma, he’s a coworker! Not a burglar.”

“Honey, I have at least five family heirlooms in that bathroom, not including the wax Lady of Guadalupe your Abuelita gave us on your hatchday. I don’t trust anyone but myself to be in there for longer than five minutes.”

“Okay, fine, fine.” Fenton shook his head with a slight smile and walked down the hall. He saw that the bathroom door was open, and Gyro was standing against the sink, staring at his phone in the dark.

“Y’okay there, buddy?” Fenton awkwardly asked.

Gyro gasped in surprise but softened a bit when he realized who it was. “Did your mother ever teach you not to bug someone when they’re in the bathroom?” he huffed, still staring at his phone.

“Actually, she sent me to find you and make sure you didn’t steal the Lady of Guadalupe right there,” he snickered, pointing to the wax figure on the counter. “And I think the rule only applies if the bathroom door is closed.”

“Hm.”

“Are you okay? I’m sorry if I said anything that’s-”

“You didn’t do anything. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay. I-If you’re sure. I-"

“I just don’t talk to my immediate family anymore,” Gyro said with a shrug. “They don’t care for me.”

“...Oh.”  
  
Fenton felt a pang of sadness in his chest as he picked up on the other’s cold and distant tone. The last time he heard him sound like this was after Mark Beaks insulted him at that failed collaboration meeting. That meant his question must have really upset him.  
  
He felt terrible.  
  
“Are you sure you don’t want to…..” Fenton’s voice trailed away as he began to think about his past confrontations with Gyro and how the other hardly ever wanted his help. It was best to leave him alone if he asked, which he more or less had. “I’m sorry.”  
  
“It’s fine,” Gyro answered, still not looking at him.  
  
Fenton stood in the doorway for a moment before deciding he should give his coworker some alone time. “I’m going back to the table, okay?”  
  
“Alright.”  
  
“See ya. And, uh, I hope you feel better.”  
  
With that, Fenton made his way back to the dinner table and took his seat. He didn’t immediately greet M’ma, which keyed her in to something being wrong.  
  
“I take it that didn’t go well?” she asked.  
  
“He’s.....” the scientist sighed, poking at his food. “He just kind of said he needed to be alone. I shouldn’t have asked about his family.”  
  
“Oh, _pollito,_ ” M’ma said with a frown, shaking her head. “You couldn’t have known.”  
  
“Yeah, but it was still really personal,” Fenton grumbled, beating himself up over the whole situation.  
  
“Hey, you know that’s not the most personal thing that’s been asked at this dinner table!” M’ma attempted to cheer him up. “He’ll be okay. And if he’s not, then it isn’t your fault or problem. Simple as that.”  
  
“Yeah, but-”  
  
Fenton’s words cut off abruptly as he caught sight of Gyro walking back into the kitchen, still wearing the same blank stare he had on earlier. The sight of him caused the duck’s heart to leap in both anxiousness and relief.  
  
“Gyro! You’re back!”  
  
The chicken’s glare met him for a few seconds, emotionless as ever. “Thank you for the meal. I’m leaving.”  
  
“W-What!?” Fenton’s bill dropped. “But you just got here!”  
  
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dessert?” M’ma followed up.  
  
“Thank you for the offer, but something’s made me sick to my stomach,” he muttered, still trying not to make eye contact with either duck. “Probably that milk I drank last night. It went bad a week ago. I don’t think I can even stand the thought of looking at food right now so much as eating it, so it’s best I leave. I can walk myself to the bus stop.”  
  
Fenton was confused. Gyro wasn’t sick, or if he was, it hit him after he’d left. As far as he knew, his coworker had done nothing but stare at his phone with the door open when he was in the bathroom. Either way, it was best he not question it. Gyro was clearly uncomfortable and wanted to go home.  
  
“That’s too bad,” Fenton finally replied. “I hope you feel better.”  
  
“Me too, me too,” M’ma added. “Thanks for stopping by.”  
  
“Thank you for having me,” Gyro said with a nod before walking toward the door, turning the knob and leaving.

It was silent for about a minute before Fenton sighed. “He’s not sick. You can tell when he’s sick. My second week working as his intern, he came into work with food poisoning and threw up all over me.”

“I remember that,” M’ma muttered. “Your clothes smelled horrible for weeks, even after washing them. How did he even pull that off?”

“The day before he designated the bathroom stall as my office, and I guess he forgot.” Fenton cringed. “He was mad at me for not getting out of the way for weeks.”

“If I were you, I would have used it as blackmail,” M’ma laughed. “Too easy.”

“Yeah,” Fenton snickered, “but I felt really bad for him, and I didn’t want to make it worse. And I don’t want him to feel worse now.”

“Give it time, _mijo_. I think things are changing.” She smiled, patting her son’s shoulder in reassurance. “I didn’t want to strangle him half as much as I did when I first met him.”

“Oh good.”

After they’d cleaned the table, M’ma was busy watching her telenovela of the evening, and Fenton retired to his room, queueing up a handful of Darkwing Duck episodes to stream that night while he worked on various side projects. But he still couldn’t stop worrying over Gyro.

Sighing, he decided to shoot a quick text.

 _Hey! I just wanted to make sure you got home ok. Sorry things didnt go too well_  
  
He pressed send and shut his eyes, sighing deeply in anticipation. Hopefully, it would be received well by the other. In the meantime, he put on the first Darkwing Duck episode he had lined up and allowed it to provide background noise for his own work.  
  
However, he simply couldn’t focus on the episodes or his work. He just stared at his phone, both dreading and hoping that it would go off.  
  
And finally, it did.  
  
Fenton responded at first by looking at it for a few seconds with a blank stare, unsure of rather to pick it up or maybe read it later when he’d prepared himself for whatever Gyro had to say. In the end, he took in a deep breath, shut his eyes tightly and reached for his phone, pressing his finger against the home screen. Then, he opened his eyes and read.  
  
_I’m okay. Sorry for getting sick._

Although he was relieved that Gyro wasn’t angry at him, he was a little unnerved. He’d already established in his head that his coworker had lied about being ill, but even if he was, why was he sorry about it? It was especially funny coming for someone who was always lecturing him about that kind of stuff.  
  
_You don’t have to apologize for being sick_  
  
He hit send and was about to resume Darkwing Duck when he noticed that Gyro was typing a response already. Unable to look away, Fenton kept their conversation up until he received it.  
  
_It’s still humiliating. The first time I get invited to a friend’s house in years and I get sick? Unbelievable_


	8. Chapter 8

“Gyro, I’m not taking no for an answer. You’re stepping into this elevator with me, or so help me, I’ll use the suit to make you!” Fenton tried to sound as serious as he possibly could, repeatedly having to re-open the elevator with how long he was waiting for the other.

“You say this as I am literally using a blowtorch,” Gyro pointed out from behind the welding mask he was wearing as he worked on one of his many projects. “Why are you so insistent on calling off an all-nighter at 2:30 AM?”

“Because there’s 3 AM tacos!” Fenton slapped the elevator button again before deciding to step out to wait by Gyro’s desk.

“Ugh, fine.” Gyro rolled his eyes as he put the welding tools down. “You’ve been nagging about this for the last four all-nighters we’ve pulled, and I want you off my back.”

“Great!” Fenton grinned. “Grab your coat.”

“I don’t have one.”

“Grab whatever you want then, and let’s get moving! Manny, you comin’?”

The lab assistant tapped his hoof on the ground to decline, shooing them off as he read his Equestrian Sport magazine.

“Lil’ Bulb? Are you staying here? I might not be coming back until morning,” Gyro called out. He waited for a response but got nothing. “Hm. It must be exploring,” he muttered, thinking little of it as he followed Fenton into the elevator.

They had gotten halfway out of the parking garage when Fenton frowned. “Aww darn. I left my personal car playlist CD on my desk. I always listen to it when I do road trips like this.”

“Leave it. The radio will do fine.” Gyro shrugged, looking out the window with slight boredom at the purple dusky sky of early morning.

“Alrighty then! 3 AM ROAD TRIP! WOO!” Fenton cheered loudly as he suddenly turned on the radio full blast to the Latin American station that never failed to play late at night and stepped on the gas.

Gyro was spooked alert by the sudden burst of music and driving speed, face nearly kissing the dash. “Sonofa-!”

Fenton tried not to laugh. “Oh my gosh! Sorry, you probably didn’t expect that.”

“Do you always drive erratically when it comes to late night outings?!” Gyro yelped, almost mortified.

“Nah. I’m just excited to have someone else with me!” Fenton cheered.   
  
“Oh,” Gyro breathed, adjusting his glasses that had become a little crooked when the impact hit.   
  
As Fenton continued to drive along the route to the taco shop with his music blaring and Gyro in the passenger seat looking out the window with a neutral expression, he decided to create some small talk to make things less awkward.    
  
“Sooooo, where do you normally go out for food?” he asked.   
  
“I told you, Cabrera. I don’t.” Gyro glanced to him and raising an eyebrow.   
  
“You have to eat something during the week! You can’t seriously tell me you survive off coffee and cereal.”   
  
“Ugh fine,” he groaned, defeated. “There’s a cafe near Silverbeak that I frequent.”   
  
“Oh, the new one?”   
  
“Yeah. It’s nice.”   
  
“I don’t think I’ve ever been there.” Fenton screwed up his face in thought. “Wait, why don’t you go to the one that’s only a few blocks down from the bin?”   
  
Gyro heaved a frustrated sigh. “I got banned from it.”   
  
The duck wasn’t expecting that response, and his face changed to an expression that showed it. “How!?”   
  
At first, Gyro didn’t say anything, and Fenton wondered if he might not answer. But after a few seconds, he broke the silence. “I um….attempted to fix their espresso machine, and they did not take that well.”   
  
“Huh?” Fenton asked. “Did it go evil?”   
  
“Well….no,” Gyro chuckled nervously, clasping his hands together. “They wouldn’t let me behind the counter to fix it when I went in for my morning coffee, even though I told them I was the _ top  _ inventor in Duckburg, which is a proven fact, mind you, and that anyone they “hired” to do it wouldn’t be near as competent! It’s ridiculous that they’d turn down someone like me, a practical genius, just because I’m not “who they called” or whatever.” He was raising his voice and becoming more erratic, causing Fenton to gradually get concerned. “I mean, how  _ dare _ they deprive me of my morning coffee even after I offer them my services and only ask for a lifetime of free beverages as payment? It’s…..”   
  
Gyro noticed how Fenton was looking at him and trailed off, a nervous grin slipping onto his beak. He cleared his throat before continuing. “I don’t think they took too kindly to me jumping the counter and threatening to transport their building into another dimension as they carried me out. Looking back on it, the whole thing is kind of my fault.”   
  
“Yeah,” Fenton chuckled. “A little.”   
  
“Oh well...their food wasn’t that good anyway,” he grumbled. “Although I do miss their salted caramel latte. I normally don’t go for the sweet drinks, but that was a good one.”   
  
“Maybe I can get you one before work one day,” Fenton offered with a grin.

“I’d appreciate it.” Gyro sighed, examining his glasses to clean them and looked out the window. “Do you drive this way out of Duckburg often?”

“Only for getting to this place...and once for a road trip out to the mountains.”

“Ah. Camping and all of that sort?”

“Yeah! Do you like camping?”

“Not at all,” Gyro snorted. “The last time I went camping was on a company retreat that Mr. McDuck organized, and aside from the bears, I stepped in poison ivy and had bald spots on my arms for days from scratching my feathers off. Whoever invented camping needs to be drug out to the woods and…” He paused, realizing exactly what he was saying just in time to hear Fenton burst into laughter.

“Gyro, has anyone told you that you’d be a great stand-up comic?”

“Public speaking? No thank you,” Gyro muttered with a smirk, looking out the window at all the brightly lit signs along the freeway and trying to make out the various directional ones.

Eventually, Fenton got off the freeway and tried to look around for parking. He first pulled into a lot with a wire gate surrounding all of it. On that gate was a white sign with red lettering. 

“Oh, hey! Free parking after 3 AM.” Fenton smiled, not bothering to read the rest of the writing on the sign and parked.    
  
As they unbuckled their seatbelts, Gyro looked across the street to one of the few buildings with lights still on. “Are you sure this is the place?”

“Oh, come on! It looks better than your apartment,” Fenton joked. “Anyway, haven’t you ever heard the phrase, “the worse the place looks, the better the food tastes?”

“Not in my case.”   
  
“You can’t really compare fresh tacos to leftover cereal and spoiled milk,” Fenton chuckled, nudging Gyro with his elbow.   
  
The chicken squawked in defense. “Hey, I eat more than that!”   
  
“Sure you do.” Fenton winked at his friend. “Now, let’s get those tacos!”   
  
“Yeah. Let’s get them!” Gyro confidently mimicked Fenton, pumping a fist in the air. The duck playfully rolled his eyes and nodded a signal for him to open the car door and follow him to their destination.   
  
Once they’d both exited the car, the two met side by side and began to head toward the building. Gyro was looking up with narrowed eyes, studying the flickering sign that hovered above the establishment.    
  
“They need more stable lights in that thing,” he scoffed. “It’s flickering so much, I fear it might give someone a seizure.”   
  
“Yeah, they’re not the best at keeping their sign up-to-date,” Fenton acknowledged. “One time, it was completely burnt out, and my M’ma and I thought they were closed.”   
  
“Unfortunate,” Gyro mused. “They should enjoin me to make a new one.”   
  
“Please don’t get me banned from here too.”   
  
“Oh, ha ha. Very funny, Cabrera.”    
  
When they finally reached the building’s entrance, Fenton opened the door which signaled a bell at the top to ding.    
  
The employee behind the counter called a greeting to them, waving his hand but appearing too occupied with his job to acknowledge their faces. Smiling, Fenton gave a small wave back, and Gyro attempted to but really just held his hand in the air for a few seconds.   
  
“Soooo….what should I get here?” Gyro asked, adjusting his glasses so he could get a better look at the menu.   
  
Fenton patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll order for us if you don’t mind. I know what’s good.”   
  
“You better,” the inventor snarked.   
  
“Please just trust me on this.” He started toward the counter but stopped in his place, turning around to face Gyro again. “Wait, what do you want to drink?”   
  
“A coffee. Black please.”   
  
“They don’t have coffee here.”   
  
“Then what’s the point?”   
  
Fenton giggled. “Is Pep okay?”   
  
“It will suffice,” Gyro sighed in defeat.    
  
The chicken waited at one of the empty tables and rested his head in his arms, starting to feel a bit tired. He could hear Fenton and the cashier having a conversation, but he didn’t catch a single word of it. Before he could drift off or get even close, Fenton nudged his arm and handed him a plate of two small tortillas with meat on top, a large helping of rice and beans and some corn. 

Gyro eyed the tacos curiously and glanced to Fenton, who was about to take a large bite of his. “How do you even pick these things up? I feel like the second I grab it, it’s gonna fall apart.”

“Just be careful,” Fenton advised.

Eyeing the tacos warily, Gyro tried lifting one in his fingers and keeping it folded as he took a tentative bite.

He immediately almost choked. “What in the world!? This is absolutely delicious!”

“I told you!” Fenton laughed. “See what you’ve been missing out on?”

“Yes!” Gyro sputtered. He quickly took another bite, having to use two hands to keep the taco from spilling.

“Some other time, we’ll have to take some back for Manny,” Fenton suggested through a mouthful of food.

“I don’t even know if that’s worth it,” Gyro snorted, grabbing the second taco. “I’ve never seen him eat. Have you?”

Fenton paused and looked almost disturbed at the realization. “...No...”

Thirty minutes later, they were leaving with a few tacos for the road and heading back towards the parking lot. However, as soon as they crossed the street, Fenton swore and slapped his head. “Aw, damnit! I should have read the whole sign. They lock this lot up at 3:30! Ugh, the car’s locked inside the gate.”

“Maybe it opens from the inside?” Gyro mused. “ We can climb it to check. I do that at Mr. McDuck’s mansion all the time.”

“Don’t they have an intercom there you can use to buzz yourself in though?”

“Yeah, Mrs. Beakley asked me not to use it anymore,” Gyro muttered, slightly embarrassed.

Fenton wasn’t even going to ask about that. Instead, he began to climb the gate. He held the bag of food in his bill as he scaled up the chain link fence and hopped onto the other side. Gyro followed soon after, almost getting his sleeve caught on the top.

Fenton jiggled the gate and cursed slightly, seeing the padlock. “It’s no use. It’s locked completely. We’ll have to get it in the morn-”

“Hold on a minute,” Gyro cut in. “I have the perfect tool for getting us out of here.”

The duck gasped. “Wow, you do? Is it the teleportation car-keys you were talking about making? Or the handsoap that can make things pass through objects? Or the laser gun? Please tell me it’s the laser gun!”

“I was just going to use a bobby pin to pick the lock,” Gyro admitted sheepishly, holding one up from his pocket, “but all of those probably would have been way more fun.”

Gyro got to work on picking the lock while Fenton went to the car to start it up. He inched toward the gate so they could speed out once the other opened it. Gyro grinned as he heard the lock click and slid the metal gate back enough for Fenton to exit. 

Once the car was out of the lot, Gyro hopped inside and gently hugged his bag of tacos against his arm. “...I didn’t think to look for any security cameras. Do you think we’ll be accused of stealing a car?”

“I doubt it. Even if we were, my M’ma could vouch that this baby is indeed mine,” Fenton assured, patting the dashboard. “We might get busted for climbing the gate though…”

“Oh goody. We can both be wanted criminals,” Gyro laughed deviously before rooting into his bag and grabbing one of the tacos wrapped in tinfoil. He then began to munch on it quietly.

“Once we’re in the next county, we’re won’t have to be!” Fenton teased. He kept his eyes out for any possible sirens as they drove off the streets and onto the freeway.    
  
As soon as they hit the county line going back, he immediately blasted the cheerful music on the radio at full volume. “WE’RE HOME FREE!”

Gyro nearly choked on his taco in surprise and sputtered, trying to laugh. “Oh...good!”

“BYE SUCKERS!” Fenton exclaimed, speeding up a little which made Gyro laugh even more.

Fenton noticed this and couldn’t help but point it out, smiling. “You sure have laughed a lot more than usual tonight.”   
  
Gyro’s eyes grew as wide as saucers at the comment, and the duck swore he saw a hint of blush spread across his face. “I have?”   
  
“Yep,” Fenton said with a gentle hum, putting his eyes back to the road.   
  
“Oh,” Gyro replied, crossing his arms nervously. “My apologies.”   
  
Fenton could hardly believe what he was hearing and had to turn his head back around to give his friend a look of surprise. “What? Come on, that’s good!”    
  
“It is?”   
  
“Of course! I like it when you laugh,” Fenton reassured him, turning a corner carefully. “It lets me know you’re having a good time.”   
  
“Or according to at least five other colleagues I’ve worked with, I’m about to destroy something,” Gyro snorted.

“Oh come on, you’re fine-”

“No, no it’s...relatively accurate.” He shrugged, taking another bite of his taco. “And I’ve stopped learning to care about that. I just don’t like when I’m suggested to be something I’m not.”

_ Like when Mark Beaks called him a sociopath _ , Fenton recalled.

“I may be a mad scientist, but I’m not a monster,” Gyro sighed. “I’m...relatively capable of being a productive member of society. I’ve just been banned from more than five establishments. If it was more than ten, then we’d have a problem.”

“Well...we’re probably gonna be banned from parking on that street because we broke into the lot,” Fenton joked, “so make that six.”

“Ah. Great.” Gyro noticed the street names, which were more familiar now that they were back in town. “I think you can just drop me off at home. I don’t really need to go back to the lab until later in the morning.”

“Alright.” Fenton smiled, soon pulling up onto Gyro’s street. The apartments looked even more dead and abandoned at night. “Thanks for finally coming. Sorry I had to make you climb a fence.”

“It was relatively worth it in this case.” Gyro shrugged, giving a good natured smile as he stepped out. “See you tomorrow, Fenton.”

It was only when the duck had just started driving away that he realized Gyro had actually addressed him by his first name. He couldn’t stop grinning until he got the angry text from his mother asking why her friend in security from the next county over caught him breaking into a parking lot at 3 AM on camera.

Oops.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone in the San Fernando area ever been to Que Ricos? That's my favorite spot.


	9. Chapter 9

Fenton arrived at the lab around noon, unable to stop smiling at how much fun his late night adventure had been. He couldn’t wait to tell Gyro about how mad M’ma was, knowing he would probably get a kick out of it. But before he could even say good morning, he noticed the tension in the air as the chicken was scrambling furiously through drawers.

“Gyro, what’s going on-”

“Did you see Lil Bulb on your way in?” Gyro asked tersely.

Fenton furrowed his brow in thought. “No...I didn’t.”

Gyro gave a stressed breath and continued to look. “I came in this morning to find my pliers, extra pair of glasses and five boxes of tea missing, and Manny hasn’t seen Lil Bulb  _ all night _ ,” he spoke, sounding both frustrated and worried. “It explores, but not to this degree…”

“Do you think we were robbed?”

“Manny said he hasn’t seen anyone come in, and I haven’t checked the security tapes yet...but I don’t know if they’ll show where Lil Bulb is right now, if anywhere at all.” The inventor shook his head, looking very much like the anxious parent to a robot he truly was.   
  
“Hmmmm….” Fenton placed a finger to the end of his bill, tapping it in thought. “Do you think it could’ve wandered far?”   
  
“I don’t know,” Gyro said with a worried sigh, running his hand through the tuft of hair right on top of his head. “Lil Bulb never tends to wander too far. Perhaps its found better opportunities elsewhere and no longer wishes to associate with me. I suppose I was a little hard on it the other day when I wouldn’t let it set the microwave on fire.” A worried gasp left the inventor’s throat. “Have I….failed the closest thing to an offspring I’ll likely ever have?”   
  
Fenton walked over a put a comforting hand on Gyro’s shoulder, patting it. “I’m sure you haven’t. Maybe Lil Bulb just got lost?”   
  
The chicken stared at the hand and awkwardly wiggled his shoulder away from Fenton’s grasp, causing the other’s smile to falter a little. “Its navigation systems are top-notch. If Lil Bulb is lost, then something must have happened in order for them to break, and it would have had to be something really bad. It’s a tough little bot.”   
  
“Would you like me to look for it?” Fenton questioned. “I can put on the Gizmosuit and fly around town! I can even put up fliers, if you’re interested in making any.”   
  
Gyro hummed in thought for a bit and eventually nodded. “Yes. That sounds like a wonderful way for you to make yourself useful today. You do that, and come back if you can’t find it. We’ll make fliers then if needed.”   
  
“Okay!” Fenton said with a nod, trying his hardest to keep a grin on his face despite how worried the whole situation was making him. He knew Gyro was probably twice as worried, however, which made him feel the need to hide it.   
  
While Fenton got everything situated, Gyro headed toward his desk to start on the fliers with a deep pit of worry in his guts. He hardly even reacted to the clamor of equipment, and Fenton’s loud, ear-shattering “ _ Blathering blatherskite! _ ” which he would normally respond to with some sort of snide remark about the suit not being hard of hearing. Instead, he just stared at the empty screen on his computer for a few minutes, unable to do much of anything.

He was too anxious to even put into writing that his most beloved invention was missing. It could be anywhere, out there in that cold cruel anti-robot world. What if it had fallen in with the wrong crowd and was exposing itself to recreational fridge magnets or even worse, replacing its head with those LED strobe lights?   


He tried to type out the fliers, but his hands were shaking too much. Maybe he just needed coffee. When he tried to pour himself some, his hand shook so much that it spilled the hot liquid on his hand.

Gyro decided right then and there he never wanted children at any point in his life. He was already heartsick and worried over a machine and didn’t want to be responsible for another organic being other than himself. 

He decided to try radioing in to Fenton on the suit. “Anything yet?”

“Not yet. Still looking,” he could hear Fenton say over the static.

Sighing in utmost worry and sickness, Gyro rested his face in his hands, rubbing at his temples. Finding Lil Bulb in parts would be horrifying too, but it wouldn’t be as bad as not finding it at all. 

Three hours passed, and Gyro still waited for any signs from Fenton that his poor invention was somewhere, anywhere.

He’d almos phased out into an anxious daze when the radio controller began to beep, and he hastily pressed the button to talk into it. “Yes?”   
  
“Gyro! I found Lil Bulb!” Fenton exclaimed, scaring Gyro a bit at how loud his voice was.   
  
However, the initial shock soon melted away when he realized that his beloved invention was safe and sound. “Oh, good. I was hoping you would. Where was it?”   
  
“Just outside McDuck Manor actually,” Fenton said with a laugh. “I guess it was trying to steal some valuables.”   
  
Gyro gasped disapprovingly. “Lil Bulb! Is that true? We will have a talk when you return home, young bot!”   
  
This only made Fenton’s laughter grow louder, and the chicken found that rather validating, allowing himself to crack a tired smile.    
  
“We’ll be back in a minute or two, okay?”   
  
“Alright. See you then.” Gyro ended the transmission and turned to Manny, who had been searching through the phone book and calling numbers to ask if they’d seen his dearest friend and lab partner. Unfortunately, not many of them understood morse.   
  
“We’re in the clear,” Gyro informed his intern. “Fent-I mean, Cabrera found him.”   
  
Manny cocked his head to the side and tapped out a rather snarky aside that made the inventor’s feathers ruffle slightly.   
  
“I did not! I said Cabrera,” he snapped back, pouting a little. “I know what I said.”    


Manny tapped again, and Gyro instantly got defensive, face bright red.

“What are you getting at!? You  _ so _ do not know my “type.” And second of all, it’s certainly not-”

“We’re back!” Fenton cheered as the elevator burst open, and Gyro pretended to have a coughing fit.

When he managed to catch his breath, he hurried over, staring right at the robot squirming in the duck’s hands. “You have a lot of explaining to do, Lil Bulb! You’ve worried me sick!”

Fenton watched as the robot began waving its arms and gesturing wildly, and Gyro seemed to understand everything, shooting words back at it. “A likely story! You’re grounded for a month!”

Lil Bulb continued to silently argue with its creator, and after a long series of frantic gestures and dancing, Gyro gasped. “How  _ dare _ you say that to your master! TWO MONTHS!”

Almost seeming frustrated, the bot stormed off to a corner to sulk, bulb glowing bright red in anger. 

“Uh...are you sure that’s a good sign? The last time it did that, it tried to kill people remember?”   


Gyro looked to Fenton. “Oh, it’ll get over it. It’s just cranky that I didn’t fall for its excuses.” He shook his head with a snort. “And people say children are the most difficult things to raise. Anyway, thank you so much for finding it.” He smiled with relief to Fenton, clapping his shoulder. “Now I can rest easy tonight.”

“You’re welcome,” Fenton replied, grinning. “Say, it’s almost 5. I think I’m gonna head home now. See you tomorrow?”

“See you then.” Gyro waved him off, planning to work late.

Sometime later, after Manny left, Gyro was alerted from his work by the noise of something moving about the lab. He looked over and saw Lil Bulb leaving its corner, slowly walking for the elevator.

“Ah-buh-buh-bup, where do you think you’re going?” Gyro called out to the robot. “You’re staying put! That’s an order.”

The robot made no show of stopping, not even stopping to argue or even acknowledge Gyro’s presence.

That was strange.  _ Too _ strange.

“Lil Bulb!” he called out again, getting up as he saw the robot reaching for the elevator button. “Are you paying atten-”   
  
He froze as he picked up his invention, and it didn’t even react. The robot was almost limp and seemed like it was in a trance. Growing concerned, Gyro began to examine it all over for anything that might be off, like a loose wire or rusty joint, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“Lil Bulb?” Gyro spoke up again. He then gasped in shock as its bulb suddenly glowed blue, which definitely had never happened before. The troubled inventor called to it again, shaking it to try and get its attention, but it remained unresponsive.

When the elevator door opened, the robot began to squirm as if it was trying to enter, and Gyro then realized what was wrong. No wonder Lil Bulb had no memory of anything from earlier.

Someone or  _ something _ had hacked his invention.

Stomach knotting in anxiety, Gyro knew the only way to keep Lil Bulb from leaving was, unfortunately, to physically disable it from doing so. Reluctantly, he pulled a small magnet out from a drawer at his desk and placed it on Lil Bulb’s back.

The heartache of a parent filled Gyro as he watched poor Lil Bulb spasm from the sudden application of the magnet. Its bulb returned to its normal color, and it flickered weakly at Gyro, as if to ask him what had happened.

“I’m sorry,” was all he could muster to say to his beloved invention.

Sighing, he placed it on the desk, knowing it wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while in its docile, primitive state. It would have to be like this until he could figure out what was hacking the robot and how they did it.

_ Oh, Lil Bulb… _ Gyro thought worriedly.  _ What’s happened to you? _ __   
  
  
  
  
  



	10. Chapter 10

“How can someone hack an invention like that?” Fenton asked as he stared over his mug of hot tea (actual tea this time, Gyro made sure).

“Morally, I don’t know. They’d have to be a sick monster to do such a thing to my precious creation, but physically...I guess it wasn’t that difficult. I didn’t exactly create Lil Bulb with high tech security in mind.” Gyro shook his head as he stared at his own cup. He’d told Fenton the whole story that morning.

“Anyone with enough prowess at altering coding wirelessly could have gotten a hold of Lil Bulb, and...I don’t know, altered the circuits? I’d have to open it up to really find out but,” he glanced away, “I don’t want to. I already had to put a magnet to it so it wouldn’t be able to run away anymore.”

Fenton knew Gyro was speaking both with the frustration of a scientist and the anguish of a parental figure. “I’m sure we’ll figure out what happened soon. Can you reprogram Lil Bulb so the hacker doesn’t have control anymore?”

“I don’t know just yet,” Gyro sighed. “It might be a while until I can figure that out. It would be even easier if I could figure out who was hacking into my programming...Lil Bulb has no idea. It has no memories of where it was going when it was being hacked.”

“That’s too bad,” the other spoke sympathetically. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

“I don’t know.” Gyro looked away. “For right now, we have other things to work on, so I guess I should get my mind off this.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Fenton smiled with encouragement, hoping he could make Gyro cheer up during the day.

Whilst Gyro didn’t get any cheerier, he did manage to work with Fenton on their other inventions and keep his mind at least a little bit restful over Lil Bulb. When 5 o’clock hit, Fenton announced his intention to call it a day, and soon, Gyro didn’t see him anywhere in the lab. He assumed he went home and got back to his own work.

Manny was gone within five minutes, tapping out something about hitting the bar. Gyro didn’t feel like asking Manny how he consumed alcohol or _anything_ really, so he simply shrugged him off.

When he was sure he was alone, Gyro decided to take another look at Lil Bulb. Its bulb flickered sleepily as it sat on his desk, still looking unaware and catatonic. The sight made Gyro’s heart ache.   
  
“If I could just find out who did this, I could figure out a solution and make this right. I don’t want to have to just re-make you from scratch. You’re special,” he admitted quietly. “Are you sure you don’t know who did this to you?”

Lil Bulb hardly nodded but looked like it was trying to say something, as if recalling a very vague memory.

“Do you...remember anything about where you went? Or why?”

Before the robot could answer, the desk phone suddenly rang. Gyro picked it up, groaning under his breath. “Hello?”

“Mr. McDuck’s secretary. We have a call coming in for you.”

“Who’s it from?”

“I don’t know. I just work here,” the secretary muttered. “Transferring them over now.”

Gyro waited, slightly irritated as the dial tone went through. Soon enough, he was connected. “Gyro Gearloose, head of research?”

“...Oh honey. It really has been a long time.”

“Who is this?” Gyro questioned, confused at the weird affection in the voice addressing him.

“I...you know me,” the mysterious voice continued. “Look, I know it’s been years since we’ve talked or even seen each other, but it’s so good to hear you again…”

Gyro was about to make a guess that it could have been a wrong number until the tone of the voice clicked in his head. Everything in his body went slack as his voice grew soft, almost in disbelief.

“ _Mom?_ ”   
  
“I was wondering when you’d recognize me,” the voice spoke back, sounding as sweet as possible. But Gyro didn’t fall for it.   
  
For a second, it felt like nothing was real. How could it be? There was no way his mom would be contacting him right now, none at all. He hadn’t even heard from her in….how many years was it now? Definitely more than a decade. He was only 15 when she….   
  
“I’m busy,” he choked out, hardly even able to say that. “Call back later.”   
  
It wasn’t true. Or in a way, it was, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get work done after this. He’d be sitting in shock, wondering how she even found him. How did she even know it was him? He’d changed so much since the last time he’d seen her.   
  
“Now….Gyro, is that it?”   
  
He couldn’t help but breathe a shaky sigh of relief upon hearing her get that right. “Yes. But I told you, I can’t-”   
  
“Please let me talk.”

Gyro gulped, swallowing a sigh. “O-Okay.”

“I know you had a hard time reaching me when your father and I stopped living together. I just had a lot to think about, and then meeting Gordon-”

“Who’s Gordon?” The question dropped like a heavy weight out of Gyro’s lips.

“My husband,” she spoke without stopping. “I just didn’t have time to get on the phone with you without the risk that your father would try to get involved and-”

“You left me with him. What did you expect?” The inventor kept his tone flat and eerily quiet.

“I know. But I thought you could handle it,” she sighed. “And you were just a few years away from being an adult, so I didn’t want to put Gordon or the kids in a tight spot-”

“I wanted to go with you.” The words were quick and almost slurred.

“What?”

“I wanted to go with you, to leave dad but you-” Gyro sighed. “You didn’t listen. It was hard, mom.”

“....I’m sorry,” she answered, voice uncertain, “but...at least you’ve grown up well, and look at you! Working for a billionaire? I’ve been telling my friends about you, and I’m sure my family would love to meet y-”

“No,” Gyro answered firmly.

“...Excuse me?”

“You don’t get to brag about my successes. That’s for me to do,” Gyro began sharply. “And you don’t get to come back in my life expecting me to welcome you after you ignored me every single time I tried to contact you-”

“What was I supposed to do? Your father wanted to take me to court over keeping you! It was easier to just let him have you and go-”

“You didn’t even fight for me!” Gyro relayed incredulously. “You _knew_ you were the one I thought would stick up for me when things got bad. I thought you would do anything for me, and you just up and left because it was more convenient-”

“Honey, you have no idea what I had to go through with your father. You were just a child.”

“And I was still always the one who got roped into your two’s fighting!” he snapped. “I got blamed for everything that ever happened when you two fought, and I still have to tell myself it wasn’t my fault. Now, if you want to try and get back in my life, you better have a reason other than me being successful. Do you ever talk to Sara or Camilla or Raymond or Teddy or any of my other brothers and sisters, or are they not successful enough for you to reach out to?”

“I haven’t seen any of them either!” his mother spat, suddenly sounding frustrated. “I don’t know where they all went off to after I left.”

“Do you know how to contact _any_ of them?” Gyro asked. “Because before I moved out, dad refused to give me their addresses, so I couldn’t move near them. I haven’t seen any of the family in _years_ , mom.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but that’s not my fault.”

“Yes it is. And I will _never_ forgive you for it.”   
  
Gyro slammed the phone down before his mother could get another word in. After taking a few deep, shaky breaths to collect himself as much as he possibly could, he quickly dialed the number of Scrooge’s secretary.   
  
“Hello-”   
  
“Block that number, please,” he spoke, trying hard to keep his voice level.   
  
“Alright,” the secretary answered. “Was it a scam or-”   
  
“Please,” Gyro hissed through his teeth. “Just. Block it.”   
  
“Of course, Dr. Gearloose.” Gyro hastily hung the phone up before the secretary had a chance to pry any more.   
  
When he was finally alone with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company, the inventor stared down at his desk, feeling like he was going to be sick at any moment but unable to move. Once he’d regained enough of his senses to, he placed his elbows on his desk and lowered his head into his hands. His glasses slid off the bridge of his beak, and he shakily put them on the desk.

It was all too much in one day, where nothing would be rewarded, and he would have to possibly do it all over again tomorrow. All of his stress from everything going on, all of his repressed emotions from years past and an undiscovered, untapped well of sadness and anger deep inside him finally broke just a small enough crack for his resolve to falter. He couldn’t help what came next. Suddenly, he felt himself struggling to breathe, his body shuddering and his face growing hot.

Gyro cried. His breath hitched as he dry-heaved with sobs and tears burned at his eyes and overflowed. He’d not done this in years, and the sensation was painful and relieving all at once.

It only was a little easier knowing he was all alone, except for Lil Bulb who was hardly lucid. Remembering again what he had to do to his precious invention only made Gyro cry harder, and he slumped on the desk with one elbow, unable to stop himself from the painful emotions.

“I don’t know what to do anymore,” he weeped under his breath, staring at Lil Bulb, who only flickered its bulb dimly. “I can’t do this. I can’t.” He shook his head, letting tears drip down his beak as he sniffled.

He grabbed for tissue to scrub at his face as his wheezing, choked sobs calmed into quieter whimpering, and he stared miserably at his desk.

_At least I’m alone,_ he thought.

He wasn’t.

Fenton hadn’t noticed he’d forgotten his flashdrive until he was home. He didn’t want to haul himself all the way back to the bin, but he also didn’t want to risk losing everything that was on it. So he’d gotten back in his car and made the drive to work. When he got there, he noticed that the elevator had gone down for maintenance, meaning he would have to take the stairs. He thought that would be the end of the not so fortunate turn of events, but it appeared to be just the start.  
  
He wasn’t even concerned about the flashdrive anymore. Come to think of it, all the files would still be on his desktop at work if anything happened. He was, however, very concerned about what he heard when he stepped closer to the lab.   
  
Gyro screaming wasn’t anything new. In fact, Fenton expected to hear him scream more than three times each day, and normally, he did. Those screams were out of things such as dropping documents, spilling coffee, tripping on a wrench and whatnot. At first, it was easy to brush the yelling off as an everyday occurrence, but when it continued, and he was able to make out some of the words, the duck noticed this wasn’t a typical Gyro reaction.   
  
He was screaming at someone, and he sounded angrier than Fenton had ever heard him sound before. And that was saying something.   
  
Fenton reached the entrance to the lab soon enough to hear what was going on, and it was very obvious who Gyro was talking to. It had to be his mom, someone who he didn’t know anything about and judging by what he was hearing his co-worker yell into the other end, she wasn’t a very pleasant person.   
  
Instead of entering the lab, he was planning on turning around and going back when he realized how personal the conversation was. He shouldn’t spy on Gyro during a moment like this. However, his feet couldn’t move, and his heart caught in his throat when he heard just how hurt and broken his friend’s voice sounded.   
  
And then came the sobs.   
  
He recalled Gyro saying that he didn’t cry a couple months ago. Despite this, he still believed him. This sounded like the first breakdown someone had in ages. He was practically gasping for air, choking out between sobs that he didn’t know what to do, sounding utterly helpless.   
  
Fenton had to do something. He couldn’t just stand there and listen to his friend in such distress. Reaching for the doorknob, he shut his eyes and tried so hard to turn it, so he could give Gyro the comfort he knew he so desperately needed.   
  
However, his hand wouldn’t budge. Fenton was frozen. He knew he should say something, he wanted to say something, but he wasn’t supposed to hear this. There was a very strong possibility that Gyro would get angry and never forgive him for eavesdropping, and Fenton couldn’t say it wouldn’t be justified. As much as it hurt, it was best he suppress his heroic instincts for once and walk away, pretending none of this ever happened just as he knew his friend would.   
  
With a heavy heart and the sound of Gyro sobbing helplessly in the background, Fenton turned around and trudged up the stairs.

   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge and massive thank you to our dear friend lechepop on tumblr for being the guest artist for this chapter's illustration!!


	11. Chapter 11

Fenton had made sure not to say anything that would set Gyro off that following morning, to the point he didn’t say anything at all. He kept at his desk, working off his computer and didn’t try to bother the other with any banter.

But after a few hours, he began to doubt if he would even be able to set off Gyro at all. The chicken had been more or less staring at his cup off coffee with a look of exhaustion on his face. He probably hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. 

Fenton hadn’t either. He’d laid awake that night, replaying the memory in his head of how upset Gyro sounded, and how he cried, alone in his lab. He tried to think of something to say to cheer him up, but he didn’t want to say anything that might incriminate him in having accidentally eavesdropped. Around lunch break, he decided to take a chance.

“Gyro?” he spoke up, approaching the inventor’s desk slowly.

The chicken looked up wearily. “Mmm?”

“Y’know...it’s been a long week and everything...Scrooge isn’t even in today...why don’t we call it a half-day and just go out and do something relaxing?”

Gyro didn’t deny the request and instead spoke tiredly. “Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know, like a movie or something?” Fenton frowned a bit. “You look like you could use a break from working.”

Gyro stared down at the work he’d hardly touched all morning. “...Ah. Yeah.”

The response surprised Fenton so much that he became a bit startled. “You really mean it?”   
  
“I suppose,” Gyro answered, heaving a sigh. “I….didn’t sleep well last night, and it’s making my work extremely difficult.” He avoided Fenton’s stare as he spoke, as if he knew he wasn’t telling the whole truth. The duck couldn’t be mad at him for that.   
  
“Are you sure you don’t need a nap?”   
  
“A nap is out of the question. I tried, but it’s not going to happen. Not when I’m like this.” He rubbed at his eyes. “I guess the situation with Lil Bulb has troubled me more than it probably should.”   
  
_ That’s not the only thing…. _ Fenton thought to himself.   
  
He tried to offer a warm smile, but it was hard when he knew the whole story of what had made his normally eccentric friend such a wreck. Nonetheless, he wanted to be there for Gyro to his best ability and knew that his beloved invention’s difficulties probably did play a part in the pile of stress he was under.   
  
“I understand,” Fenton answered, wanting to offer a gentle pat on the back but not knowing how well Gyro would do with physical affection in this state. “I know how much Lil Bulb means to you. I hope we can find out what’s wrong soon.”   
  
“No doubt we will,” Gyro said, staring at the blank computer screen in front of him. “I’m just in no shape to deal with the answer nor am I the possibility that it might…..” His voice trailed off for a moment, and Fenton was almost scared he was going to cry again. However, he composed himself as if it were nothing. “......be unfixable. But I’m sure that won’t be the case.”   
  
“Of course it won’t. You’re Gyro Gearloose, the greatest inventor ever!” Fenton cheered, trying to rouse a smile out of his friend.    
  
And he almost did. However, it fell halfway.   
  
“I’m glad you feel that way about me,” Gyro replied in a way that made it obvious he didn’t agree.   
  
Fenton sighed. It was going to take more than compliments to get Gyro into a better state of mind, but if he wanted to get him out of the lab and outside, he’d have to do something.

“No, really,” he spoke firmly, staring down the other. “You have an impossible amount of tenacity that nobody can match up to. You come up with all these crazy cool ideas, and even when they don’t work, you don’t give up! You just keep going and making even better things! I don’t know anyone else who can do that.”

Gyro didn’t react much. He simply sighed, getting up to grab his jacket. “You drive. Obviously.”

Fenton was glad to see he convinced the other to go, even if he still was depressive and quiet. It was a start.

Once they were in the car, Fenton had been cautious about putting the radio on too loudly in case it bothered Gyro. But the chicken reached for the volume knob to crank it up once they pulled out of the parking garage.    
  
When Fenton looked at him, he shrugged. “I like it.”

Suddenly, an idea popped into the duck’s head. One that was much too hard to pass up. “Hey, do you mind if we make a quick stop before we go to the movies?”

Gyro gave a soft sigh. “Nah.”

After a few minutes into the city, Fenton parked on a street corner and held a hand up to Gyro when he was unbuckling his seatbelt. “Stay in the car. I’ll be back soon.”

Gyro was almost confused at the command, but he was too worn out to argue against it. Slumping in the seat, he watched Fenton walk up the street and turn the corner. He had no idea where he was going and didn’t know if he really wanted to ask. So instead, he shut his eyes and tried to drown out everything in the world.

He was startled awake by Fenton knocking on the car window, and he fumbled for the manual hand crank to roll it down. The duck passed him a steaming cup of coffee.

“It was the salted caramel you liked, right?” Fenton smiled.   
  
When he realized what his friend was offering to him, Gyro’s beak dropped open ever so slightly in awe. He looked to the cup and back to Fenton’s beaming face and then back to the cup once more.   
  
“Is that….?”   
  
“Mhmmm!” The duck nodded his head. “Made special just for you.”   
  
Blinking his eyes, Gyro took the cup in his hand and studied it, adjusting his glasses. He slowly put it up toward his beak and took a sip, sighing contentedly after. Fenton, who was making his way into the driver’s seat, watched him with the same pleased grin still present on his bill.   
  
“Is it just as good as you remembered?”   
  
“Even better,” the chicken replied. It almost looked as if he was about to smile, but it soon changed to a disgruntled frown. “Wait, they spelled my name with a J?”   
  
Fenton chuckled rather nervously, running a hand through the crest of hair on his head. “Nah. I didn’t want them getting suspicious, so I told them that’s how it’s spelled.”   
  
“Hmm. Fair enough.”    
  
Instead of taking small sips like Gyro tended to do with his normal coffee, he practically inhaled this one. Fenton couldn’t help but giggle as he watched it, knowing his gift had been accepted even if his friend didn’t exactly tell him so.   
  
“Oh, Fenton,” Gyro spoke right as his was turning the key into his car’s ignition.    
  
“Yes?” Fenton replied, beaming a little at the use of his first name.   
  
“Thank you.”

Fenton was pretty sure that if feathers could change color, his would be bright red right now. He couldn’t help but grin widely, trying not to sound too flustered as he replied. “Well, I uh...just thought you could use a pick-me-up with some caffeine!”

Gyro didn’t seem to mind it, giving another content sip and looking out the window as Fenton drove down the street.

When they reached the theater a short while later, Gyro squinted to get a good look at the ticket prices. “Why are theaters so blathering expensive these days?”

The chicken froze as he took a look in his wallet with a sudden idea and fished out his very old student ID from when he was in college. He compared himself to the photo on it. “Have I changed too much for me to fake being a student?”

Aside from the acne and different glasses, Fenton really didn’t see a considerable difference between the two. However, this Gyro definitely seemed more invested in dressing like an eccentric.

“I think you can pass. College students look pretty hipster these days.”

“ _ Hipster? _ ” Gyro was almost offended as Fenton went ahead to the ticket counter and ordered the tickets. “Now look here, Cabrera, I will  _ not _ have you telling me I dress like a hipster-oh yeah, here’s cash. Give me the change-and think you’re  _ correct  _ because you’re very sadly mistaken! I would never dress like a hip-”

“Aisle or middle seats?” Fenton asked as he looked over the screen the ticket-person showed him.

“Middle”, Gyro answered flatly and went right back into his rant decrying hipster and millenials all without realizing that he very well fell into both categories, whether he liked it or not.

“Oh my god, Gyro, shut up! You got the student discount,” Fenton snorted, handing him his ticket as they walked inside. “Whenever my M’ma and I would come to the movies, she was an expert at sneaking food in here. It’s ridiculous how you have to pay 8 dollars for popcorn.”

“I had braces as a teenager, so I never got to eat popcorn,” Gyro muttered, still wanting to get in line for some anyway. “By the way, whatever movie you picked, it’s a horror film right?”

“Uhh...yeah,” Fenton admitted. “Is that okay?”

“I love horror movies,” Gyro answered flatly. “Except the living doll ones. Those are too creepy.”

“So wait,” Fenton said, grabbing a box of candy, “you alter objects that are normally inanimate to be alive for a living, but you think movies about dolls, inanimate objects, coming to life are creepy?”

“Yes.”

“...Okay. Valid,” Fenton chuckled. “I get freaked out by the ones with the haunted orphanages. Thankfully, this one has neither dolls or orphans, so I think we’re good.”

Once they were in the theater, Gyro kicked back in his seat and put his long legs over the back of the one in front of him.

“Gyro!” Fenton whispered, almost questioning him.   


“Relax, Gizmodork,” Gyro shot back, almost sounded smug at the name he coined. “Nobody is sitting there. Yet.”   
  
“But what if someone wants to sit there?”   
  
“There are several other open seats in the theater! They can sit somewhere else.”   
  
“But-”   
  
“Shhhh, it’s starting!”    
  
Fenton held his tongue and moved his attention to the screen, where it would be for the next two hours. The first half of the movie was a bit slow, as they typically are. Even when the scary stuff started to happen, it wasn’t anything either of them hadn’t seen before.    
  
Gyro leaned over to give his fair share of snide remarks about how the acting was subpar or some effects were poorly made or how certain instances of science were inaccurate. However, Fenton didn’t mind it at all. Well, it was a little over-the-top when Gyro burst out laughing at one of the deaths because he knew a stab to the back from that particular angle wouldn’t have actually killed a person which in turn made the whole theater stare at them, but it was almost worth it to hear his laugh.    
  
There was a part near the end of the movie with a jump scare, something that didn’t always get Fenton but did if he wasn’t paying too close attention. It happened at the same time that Gyro was whispering something to him about how the blood they used in the movie wasn’t the right shade of red, so it really took him off-guard. Suddenly, the inventor’s snarky comment was cut off by hands gently gripping his arm and a head closer to his shoulder than one probably ever had been.   
  
Upon realizing what he was doing a few seconds after the initial shock died down, Fenton gasped and recoiled, nerves creeping up on him that the accidental gesture wouldn’t be accepted well by his friend.   
  
“I’m sorry! I-I just…..it was…..I-”   
  
“I-It’s okay.”   
  
Cracking his eyes open in fear of seeing Gyro staring angrily down at him, the duck was surprised to realize that wasn’t the case at all. Instead, the other was looking at him with just as much surprise as he was, if not even more. And Fenton could have sworn he might have even seen a hint of blush on his cheeks but soon brushed it off and contributed it to the theater’s lighting.   


When the movie was over, and they were headed back to the car, Gyro said Fenton could just take him home. For some reason, Fenton was kind of disappointed he didn’t want to take longer, so he opted to just drive very slowly to get towards that edge of town.

“This was a nice change of pace,” Fenton chirped, trying to make light conversation. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you outside of work like this.”

“Like what?”

Fenton tried to think of the right words. “...Laid back?”

“Huh,” Gyro responded, as if he were intrigued only slightly by the answer. “Well, nobody takes me to movies. Not since I was a kid and stuck in those terrible Sunday school dresses.” He shuddered. “Just remembering how scratchy those things were makes me wish I’d come out a lot sooner. I know I...” Gyro paused, realizing from the other’s expression that he’d more or less disclosed the fact that he’s trans to someone else right then and there. “I mean, hopefully that’s not a huge shock on your tiny duck brain or-”

“It’s not! Don’t worry,” Fenton said with a warm smile. “I’m honored you feel comfortable enough around me to tell me things like that. I was mostly shocked by you mentioning Sunday school.”

“Oh! Yeah. My parents made us go, but my siblings and I would ditch the minute we knew they were gone and scramble to the neighborhood theater. It was usually playing second-run movies, but we could afford it with our allowance, and it was fun,” Gyro mused flatly. “We all got in trouble when we were finally caught, and the next time I saw a movie wasn’t until I was in high school. I had to walk myself there.”

“Awww. That sounds kind of fun,” Fenton said. “I wish I had brothers and sisters growing up.” He was glad Gyro didn’t seem to mind the conversation so far, and so long as he kept his questions and responses careful, he didn’t seem too upset.

“It’s really been years since I’ve done  _ anything _ like this,” Gyro admitted. “And to be honest, I kind of needed it.” He glanced to Fenton, taking a deep breath before he spoke again. “Is it stupid if I say you’re probably my closest friend?”

Fenton almost turned bright red in surprise and tried not to smile too largely. “Th-that’s...actually really awesome of you, Gyro.”

“Don’t get too excited! It’s not like there’s much competition,” Gyro quickly shot back in an attempt to mask the tiniest smile, glancing downwards.    
  
He looked up from his lap when Fenton finally pulled up to the front of his apartment. “Hey,” he piped up rather nervously once the car came to a stop, “do you want to come in for a bit? I can make tea or something.”   
  
“Yeah!” Fenton said with a wide grin. “I’d love to.”   
  
After getting out of the car, the two of them walked into the cramped, messy apartment. It hadn’t changed much at all since the last time Fenton came over. At least he was expecting the state of it this time. He also noticed that Gyro’s neighbor’s cat was still present, sitting on a tattered chair and cleaning its paws.    
  
“You should probably give that cat back soon, Gyro.”   
  
“Nah.”   
  
The chicken immediately walked to the kitchen area of his small apartment and pulled up a tall barstool-like chair to sit on. There was an identical one next to it, and he patted the seat, inviting Fenton to do the same. Gulping, the shorter of the two very slowly and carefully climbed up to the seat. His efforts made Gyro laugh a bit, and he gently nudged him with his elbow once he was able to.   
  
“Hey! At least my legs don’t stick out at the table,” Fenton joked.   
  
“Not at my own,” Gyro answered smugly.   
  
“Oh, be quiet.”    
  
The two sat there for a while, not really saying anything but enjoying each other’s company. Finally, Gyro leapt down from the stool and made his way toward the fridge. “Want anything?”   
  
Fenton turned around to face the other direction. “Like what?”   
  
“Hmmmm….” Gyro adjusted his glasses as he studied his options. “How does leftover ramen from two days ago sound?”   
  
“Not that great. Sorry.”   
  
“I’m with you on that.” Sighing, Gyro shut the door to the fridge. “Damnit. I should’ve picked up groceries after work yesterday, but I got….distracted. With Lil Bulb.”   
  
Fenton, knowing that wasn’t the case, frowned and played with his tie, trying to fight back the urge to say something about it. Luckily, he managed to do so.   
  
“Are there any convenience stores nearby? I could go and get us some snacks to hold us off for the night.”   
  
“There’s one just around the corner actually.”   
  
“Sweet!” Fenton jumped down from the chair, almost falling flat on his face as he did so but catching himself just in time. “I’ll go pick something up! You stay right there, and-”   
  
“Oh no, you don’t. I’m coming with you!”    
  
Pleasantly surprised, the duck raised an eyebrow. “You are? But don’t you want to relax?”   
  
“I…..want to, uh….pick out my own food! Because you don’t….I mean….you….” Gyro sighed and crossed his arms, admitting defeat. “Fine. I don’t want to be alone.”   
  
Fenton felt like his heart might burst upon hearing the other admit it. “Thanks for being honest with me.”   
  
Gyro was fighting back a smile, running a hand down his neck and putting his other one on the table. “Heh. I guueeeee-AHHHHH!”  
  
Startled by the sudden loud scream and how Gyro was almost immediately darting to the other side of the apartment, Fenton turned his head to look at one of the biggest roaches he’d ever seen in his life crawling on the cabinet where his friend previously had his hand.    
  
“KILL IT!” Gyro loudly demanded, standing up on his bed. “SEND IT BACK TO HELL FROM WHENCE IT CAME!”   
  
“No!” Fenton retorted. “You live with them.  _ You  _ take care of it!”

“THEY’LL COME AFTER ME LIKE THE ANTS DID! AND THE FLIES!”

“What?”

“NOTHING! JUST KILL IT! KILL IT! KILL IT!”

As Gyro continued to freak out, Fenton sighed and grabbed a filthy dish sitting on the counter. The large roach crawled on it, and he dumped it out the window. “There. Happy?”

“No! You didn’t squash it and end its miserable existence!”

“I’m not gonna kill it. It didn’t do anything wrong,” Fenton sighed, opening the door for Gyro to follow him out to go shopping.

“Yes it did! It’s a roach! Everything it does is wrong!” Gyro insisted, following close behind. 

Even as his irritable old self, it was a far better sight than what Fenton had seen that morning. He’d gladly take it.

  
  
   
  
  
  



	12. Chapter 12

As the elevator opened, Fenton trudged into the lab, stretching and stifling a yawn. It had been nearly 5 in the morning by the time he was able to get home last night, and that definitely showed. He would have overslept if M’ma hadn’t woken him up by pounding on his door and telling him he was going to be late. The scientist was thoroughly exhausted, but a smile remained plastered on his face as he recalled the reason he was out so late: having fun with a good friend.   
  
He couldn’t stop thinking about how Gyro had told him he was his closest friend. Sure, he had a feeling that the surly chicken would eventually open up to him, but this almost seemed unreal. Nonetheless, he was glad to do something to make him happy, even if it was just being there. Fenton knew all too well that sometimes that was all it took.   
  
His eyes were quick to make their way toward Gyro’s desk. The inventor was sitting there with a neutral expression on his face, holding Lil Bulb in his hand. Fenton felt a wave of sadness overcome him when he saw the state of his friend’s beloved invention, completely motionless and hooked up to the computer with several wires.    
  
Before Fenton could decide if it was the right time to greet Gyro, a yawn escaped from his throat before he could stop it which got the chicken’s attention. Gyro adjusted his glasses a little, eyes letting it be known that he didn’t sleep well either. The duck frowned, wondering if he’d even slept at all.   
  
“Good morning, Cabrera,” he greeted him, almost instantly turning back to work on Lil Bulb.   
  
Fenton ran a hand through his crest and rocked on his feet a little. “H-Hey, Gyro! How’s it going?”   
  
“I’m trying to get to the bottom of what happened to Lil Bulb, as you can probably tell.” Gyro’s voice was as joyless as ever, the complete opposite of what it had been last night. “It’s proving to be rather difficult, but I think I’m finally getting somewhere.”   
  
“That’s good.” A nervous chuckle left Fenton’s throat. “Also, uh….I just wanted to thank you for last night. I….had a lot of fun.” He smiled as wide as he possibly could.   
  
However, Gyro didn’t even look at him, and his expression didn’t shift in the slightest. He just nodded his head.   
  
“Okay.”   
  
Feeling awkwardness wash over him and regretting even bringing the night up when he could tell just how emotionally and physically exhausted Gyro was, Fenton tried not to let himself get too disappointed in the deadpan response he’d received.    
  
“Yeah, well….I’m gonna go work on my thing now,” Fenton said after a moment of silence, turning toward his desk and flashing Gyro a warm look. “Good luck on Lil Bulb.”   
  
“Mhmmm.” 

When Fenton headed over to his desk, he noticed he’d left his computer turned on the night before. He almost wanted to curse himself for leaving it like that for so long, especially with the drive that was plugged in.

Or was supposed to be plugged in.

Before he could say anything, Gyro gasped in surprise, catching him off-guard. “I found the bug!”  he exclaimed, taking off the magnet on Lil Bulb. “Lil Bulb was hacked by a mobile device, and the timestamps of his code being altered lead us back to months earlier after that meeting with Waddletech...I should have guessed earlier.”

“You don’t think...”

“I know it was.”

“Oh my god. Finally!” A voice burst through the tiny speaker Gyro had installed in Lil Bulb. “I was wondering if the G-man had turned you off! Alright, little buddy. You can bring it on home now.”

“Beaks!” Gyro shouted into the speaker. “What is the meaning of this?! You hacked my invention!”

“Duh. How else was I gonna get a peek inside your nerd factory?” Mark laughed. “You made it waaay too easy, man. Your bulb buddy has less codes than my phone assistant. And it’s a pretty good listener with a bit of convincing.”

Lil Bulb suddenly glowed blue again and hopped off the table too fast for Gyro to catch it.

“It’s been bringing me back lots of junk from your place! Mostly just snacks and tools, but last time the little guy was out, he sent me some pretty top secret information. I’ve been meaning to open it, but it’s all encrypted.”

Fenton’s stomach dropped, and he felt ready to be sick. His  _ invention _ .

“And whatever it is, it’ll make great marketable swag for Waddletech!”

“Th-This is stealing! You can’t do this!” Fenton shouted.

“Uhhh, technically, it’s  _ not _ stealing since your robot took it and brought it to me. That’s called business, buddy,” Mark sneered before a clap sounded from his end.    
  
“Okie dokie, lil pal! Just get back to HQ and help me unlock whatever this is!” Beaks addressed Lil Bulb, who was already making a quick escape much to Gyro’s shock. “I got yoga in five. Ciao!”

Gyro was scrambling to catch Lil Bulb, but the robot had managed to open the elevator doors forcibly and climb up the cable.

Both scientists stood in shock, and Manny tapped something out after a few seconds that roughly translated to “Oh shit.”

“I-I can’t believe it,” Fenton began, staring at his desk in disbelief and feeling his whole world falling apart. “He stole-”

“MY INVENTION!” Gyro grabbed at his head in horror. “MY PRECIOUS LIL BULB IS GONE!”

“G-Gyro, I think he also stole-”

“NOT NOW!” The scientist was grabbing for his computer to try and get into Lil Bulb’s code, but every time he opened it, it crashed. “No...no, no, no, no, NO!”   
  
“B-But, I think-”   
  
“I-I can make a new one!” Gyro suddenly exclaimed, not even paying Fenton the slightest bit of attention and talking to himself more than anyone. “I can redo the code easily! I’ve made so many prototypes going off the same one. It’ll be a piece of cake! It’ll just be…..different.”    
  
Fenton, although he was slightly worried about his friend, was visibly becoming frustrated.. “Gyro, listen to me-”   
  
“I mean, sure, it’s terrible that Lil Bulb is gone, but I can work out some of the kinks in this new version! Like I can make it less hostile…..although, goodness, its hostility could be so cute sometimes. T-The way it used to threaten anyone who so much as looked at it wrong was quirky and relatable!” Gyro whimpered a little. “And….it was….very close to me, possibly closer than any of my other inventions have ever been, which will be….hard to replace….”   
  
“Gyro-”   
  
“Oh, who am I kidding!” Gyro threw his hands up in the air. “This whole thing is a disaster!” He heaved a shaky sigh, as if he wanted so desperately to cry again but knew nothing was going to come out if he tried. “Lil Bulb is….gone.”   
  
The sudden drop in the chicken’s tone made Fenton’s annoyance slowly slip away as he realized just how awful this whole ordeal must be for Gyro. Lil Bulb really was like a child to him, and now there was a strong chance he’d never be seen again. However, he couldn’t stay quiet about what else he’d discovered, even if now probably wasn’t the time for more bad news.   
  
“I’m sorry, Gyro,” he spoke gently. “I’m gonna miss it too, but there’s….something else.”   
  
Taking another deep breath, Gyro glanced toward Fenton with an utterly devastated expression.    
  
Gulping, the duck continued. “I think Mark took the planning for the mind-reading device I’m working on. I left it out on my desk last night like an idiot, and now it’s gone. I’m sorry.”   
  
In reaction to the news, Gyro simply sighed once more and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”   
  
Fenton’s eyes shot open in shock at the other’s reply. “Wh-What do you mean? This device could be very dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands! We need to look for it immediately!”   
  
“No, we don’t,” Gyro replied, sounding as cold and distant as ever. “It doesn’t matter. Now, just go away so-”   
  
“It matters to me!”  Fenton snapped, aghast at how uncaring Gyro seemed. “I’ve been working on this for months! It was my project.”

“I know. I-”

“It’s as important to me as Lil Bulb is to you! You knew that!” Fenton felt his hands shaking. “Do you ever think of people besides yourself?”

“If you would shut up a second, I-”

“Look, I get it! You didn’t have much faith in my ideas to begin with. You were probably waiting for this to happen the whole time.” Fenton rolled his eyes, looking away. “Wanting to see me fail....”

Gyro looked visibly stunned by the last sentence and took a step back. He stared at the floor, shaking his head and clenching his fists as he stared up again at Fenton. The inventor looked genuinely hurt and spoke with his voice soft and flat. “I  _ never _ said I wanted to see you fail.”

Without another word, he stepped past Fenton and headed for the stairs, not looking back as he exited the lab. Stunned at how Gyro had reacted, all the duck could do was stand there and watch him exit the lab. The only sound for a while was his heart thudding in awe and terror, before Manny tapped out that he was turning in as well and walked out, leaving Fenton alone to think about what he said.

   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every kudos and hit this story gets helps fund for swarms of live wasps to be sent to Mark Beaks' estate and be placed inside the walls.


	13. Chapter 13

_ Here is your data drive. You left it out the other night. I put it in my pocket to give you later, and I forgot to tell you sooner. _

_ Quit leaving your stuff out. _

_ Dr. Gearloose. _

Fenton stared at the crumpled note and the precious piece of hardware he’d been so certain was lost forever. He felt relieved that he hadn’t been robbed after all, but he felt an even bigger sense of guilt when he didn’t see Gyro anywhere in the lab. Usually he was here much earlier.

“Manny, is Gyro here?”

The intern tapped out that he hadn’t seen Gyro all morning, and that if he wasn’t here by noon, they were technically allowed to leave. 

Fenton shook his head and sighed. He had a feeling he was probably the reason Gyro was absent and felt worried, hoping the other was okay. He was about to text him when he had second thoughts. Maybe it was best to wait until the end of the day.   
  
For a few hours, Fenton sat at his desk and tried to work on his project. However, he couldn’t find himself getting much work done, and he was sure that Gyro’s absence played a key role in that. The atmosphere had been weird ever since Lil Bulb had become unable to work, but this was even more uncomfortable. He couldn’t do anything like this.   
  
Fear getting the best of him, he decided to turn to someone for a response.    
  
“Manny?”   
  
The man horse flipped around, tapping out a “Yes?” to Fenton.   
  
“Do you think Gyro is mad at me?”   
  
He tapped again, asking if Fenton meant “brooding’ mad” or “I’m planning a way to vaporize you with a laser gun mad.”

“Uh...the former.”

Manny tapped a sure “Maybe.”   
  
“Oh….” Fenton sighed, shutting down his computer and making sure to grab the disc with his project’s information on it this time. He couldn’t stay here. “I’m gonna head out. Are you good on your own?”   
  
Manny waved an affirmation and nodded his head.   
  
Not even bothering to reply, the duck trudged toward the elevator and walked to his car. He couldn’t even be bothered to turn the radio on as he drove to his house. Knowing M’ma was still at work somehow made him look forward to it less. More silence was never fun at a time like this.   
  
When he finally got to his room, he had plans to put on some Darkwing Duck and frequent some of the online forums he liked to read. Now wasn’t exactly the best time for his work, and while he hadn’t been super productive today, he had gotten a few things done. However, as he started to relax in the best way he could think of, he realized that nothing was going to fix the pit in his stomach. Nothing except one thing.    
  
Swallowing his anxiety, Fenton grabbed for his phone and immediately began to type out a text message to Gyro.

_ Hey. I wanted to talk about yesterday.  _

He stared at his screen for a total of five minutes before sending it. Fenton closed his eyes in silent prayer that Gyro wouldn’t send him back some angry message about how he never wanted to see him again. But after ten minutes there was still nothing. Fenton checked the phone just to make sure it sent. It had, and there was an indicator that Gyro had read it.

The anxious duck waited for a few more minutes for any sort of response. After nothing but radio silence, he swallowed a breath and began another message.

_ Can you come over? _

He stared at the screen, then held his breath as it indicated that it was read. 

After minutes, there was still no reply. He sighed and put his phone aside, deciding this might be a little more complicated. Complicated enough that it wouldn’t be solved tonight.   
  
A few minutes later, Fenton heard his phone ding, signalling that he’d received a text. He was eager to open it but met with disappointment when he realized it was from M’ma.   
  
_ Picking up a double shift tonight. Won’t be home until tomorrow morning. Sorry :( _

Sighing, Fenton texted her an okay and put his phone to the side. Good thing he’d stocked up on food a few days ago.    
  
A couple of hours later, he was in the middle of a Darkwing Duck episode when he heard a knock at the door. Had his mother ordered one of those porcelain kissing children statuettes again? He sighed, ready to answer for any unsigned packages when he opened the door and froze in surprise.

Gyro stood in front of him, almost as much of a mess as his apartment. The normally styled tuft of feathers on his head was unkempt, and the rest of him looked like he’d just gotten out of bed. No, he  _ did _ just get out of bed, as indicated by a very worn out graphic tee and pajama bottoms. He stared at Fenton blankly, looking quite exhausted.   


“What?” Gyro spoke, voice hoarse from lack of use.   
  
“Oh! It’s nothing.” Fenton was quick to jump in, feeling rude for staring for so long. “I just wasn’t really expecting you.”   
  
“Why not? You texted me to come.”   
  
“You never texted me back.”   
  
“Didn’t feel like it.”   
  
“Oh….well, come in!” Fenton held the door open for Gyro, who simply grumbled and walked right past him. This made his stomach knot up with apprehension.    
  
Following the other inside, he shut the door behind them as slowly as he could. Gyro was already starting to make himself comfortable, sitting down on the couch and staring ahead with the same blank expression. Fenton didn’t want to risk overstepping any boundaries by sitting next to him, so he kept a semi-close distance.   
  
“Why didn’t you come to work today?” he asked, hoping it wasn’t too invasive of a question.    
  
“Didn’t feel like it,” Gyro replied. “Why did you think?”   
  
Fenton frowned, tapping his fingers against his leg to relieve some of his nerves. “I’m sorry about what I said yesterday. I was just really stressed out about the project, and I thought-”   
  
“Save it.” The chicken heaved another sigh, sinking into the couch. “I know what you thought. You screamed it in my face, remember?”

“Oh...yeah.” Fenton looked at his lap, not wanting to look the other in the eye and know just how much what he said hurt him.

“I still shouldn’t have said it,” he finally said. “I didn’t actually mean it.”

“You sounded like you did,” Gyro muttered. “...Do you really think I’m that awful?”

“Wh-no!” Fenton began to sputter. “Of course not!”

“Do you really believe I was wanting your inventions to fail?” Gyro crossed his arms. “We have to work under each other’s careful eye, so our individual failures are shared. I probably should have straight-up said I had your data or at least remembered to return it earlier.”

“Still...what I said was mean. I’m sorry.”

“Alright.”

Fenton could tell Gyro was still hurt, not to mention missing his beloved Lil Bulb. It definitely was not a good set of circumstances.

“Hey uh...wanna beer? My mom’s got a double shift so she’s not gonna be home until morning.”

“You have to sneak beer around your mom?” Gyro asked, looking ready to insult him.

“Nah. She just makes a big deal out of it and tells me how many alcohol-related deaths she sees every year,” the duck snorted. “I do it anyway. I’m not 12.”

Gyro gave a less hostile look and sat up. “Alright. Sure.”

Fenton had suggested they drink on the porch while the sun was setting and making the sky a lovely purple and orange. Gyro didn’t seem to be saying no to any of it, which was a sign maybe he was a little less upset. But ten minutes after Fenton had taken his first sip, he noticed Gyro hadn’t touched any of his, just staring down into the opening of the bottle.

“...Are you okay?”

Gyro didn’t look up. He just continued to stare.

“Gyro?”

“I don’t know if I like myself, Fenton,” he suddenly spoke up. “I don’t know if I like...any of myself, really. I don’t like that I’d rather be around machines than people, I don’t like that I can’t seem to take a break, and I don’t even like that if it weren’t for the fact I have a job and a lab I can work in, I’d probably just lay in bed all day. Heck, I wear the same clothes every day because it’s the only thing I have that looks relatively presentable. Otherwise, I think I’d just be in these and never in public. It’s….pathetic.”

Fenton was almost in disbelief at the things Gyro was saying and how plainly he said it. It was heartbreaking to know the inventor really had hit a low point.

“That’s probably the alcohol talking,” Gyro tried to laugh, hoping Fenton hadn’t noticed he didn’t drink anything. “Or I should get off my crazy pills,” he waved off, sounding sarcastic.

“Look there’s...nothing wrong with being on medication, first of all. I mean, I have to take it too, and….” Fenton shook his head. “I...know what it’s like to not like yourself. Sometimes I feel that way too.”

“I feel it every day,” Gyro sighed, finally taking an actual drink and making a weird face. He’d not had much alcohol in months.   
  
Fenton didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t been expecting this kind of openness from Gyro, especially when they weren’t on the best of terms. Sighing, he glanced to him and just stared for a while, taking in how exhausted and broken he looked. His heart thudded against his chest, and in an attempt to do whatever he can to possibly make him feel better, he let his gut do the talking.   
  
“I heard your phone call the other day.”   
  
The words came out before he could stop them, and once they had, he instantly regretted it. Gyro almost instantly reacted by looking as if he’d seen something terrifying, nearly choking on the alcohol he was drinking.   
  
“You  _ what!? _ ”   
  
“I was going to get the flashdrive I left out that day, and when I got to the stairs, I heard you talking, but I didn’t think it was anything serious until it was too late, and I tried to leave, I really did, but I just couldn’t, Gyro, and I know I should have-”   
  
“Slow down! Gee, I can hardly understand you.” He took a deep breath to collect himself, along with another long drink of beer, shutting his eyes and sighing when he was done. “So….you know then.”   
  
“About your mom?” Fenton asked, preemptively flinching a bit in case Gyro lost his marbles. “Yep.”   
  
“Ah.” To his surprise, the other stayed mostly calm and just stared out at the street in front of Fenton’s house, bottle in hand.    
  
“Wait, you’re not mad?”   
  
Gyro shrugged. “I don’t have the energy to be mad right now. Plus, I knew you’d find out sooner or later with how damn nosy you are.”   
  
“Oh….” Fenton gulped. “Y-You know, you didn’t deserve that. What she did.”   
  
“I know I didn’t.” Gyro narrowed his eyes. “Doesn’t mean I can’t be upset about it.”   
  
“Yeah….you’re right.”   
  
“I am.”   
  
There were a few beats of silence before something else almost forcefully spilled from Fenton’s mouth.   
  
“...Is it a bad time to say I also heard what happened after the phone call?”

“Oh. Great,” Gyro muttered. “Then I’m surprised you weren’t swooping in to comfort me incessantly like you always do.”

“I almost did, but I didn’t want to make you feel embarrassed or anything.” Fenton rubbed the back of his neck. “And uh...I guess I was kind of freaked out because I’d  _ never _ heard you cry before, and I felt bad.”

“Well...thank you.” Gyro blushed a little. “After that happened, I went home and ate a piece of leftover pizza over the sink like a rat.”

“Oh. That’s an interesting way to put it….I’ve done the same with gas station sushi, so it’s not that bad.” He chuckled, trying to make light of it.

Gyro took another swig of his drink and hiccupped. “Off topic, but I wonder what Mark even took from our lab that was ‘top secret’ anyway.”

A moment of realization seemed to hit Fenton, “Oh man...I think I know...you remember that CD for my car I forgot when we got tacos? I couldn’t find it anywhere.”

“...You encrypted a CD and labeled it top secret?”

“I didn’t want you or Manny laughing at my music in case you found it.”

Gyro looked more than a little amused. “That’s so stupid, Fenton. What kind of music is it even?”   


“I’m not telling.”

“Well, you know I  _ have _ to find out now.” Gyro was looking pretty smug.   
  
Fenton took a sip of his beer and looked away suspiciously, as if trying to avoid giving an answer.   
  
Finally, Gyro rolled his eyes and gave a small chuckle. “Look, if I let it spill that I listen to anime openings while I work sometimes, will you tell me?”   
  
Almost choking on his drink as he did so, the duck let out a rather loud and abrupt laugh. “Y-You what!?”   
  
“Hey! I was trying to make you feel more comfortable, not embarrass myself!”    
  
Catching his breath and trying not to laugh anymore, Fenton let out a long sigh. “Okay, okay. Sorry. It’s just a bunch of old QUACKBA songs my M’ma showed me back in the day. They’re a guilty pleasure of hers, and I guess she kinda passed that on to me.”   
  
Gyro gave a neutral hum. “Not bad. And a lot less embarrassing than anime. I have some regrets now.”   
  
He didn’t know if it was the alcohol talking or if he was just so glad to be conversing with his friend in a playful manner again, but something came over Fenton, and it hit him hard. Almost unable to control himself after being so overcome by emotions that stemmed from having the other around, his head dropped closer and closer to Gyro’s shoulder. And suddenly, it was there.   
  
Fenton felt the chicken tense up a bit when he first made contact, and he quickly began to realize that he might have made a mistake. But before he could sit back upright and apologize profusely, he felt Gyro’s shoulder relax.    
  
“What are you doing?” the inventor asked but not in a way that sounded like he was upset. It was more curious, almost playful.   
  
“I’m gonna be honest with you,” Fenton giggled, “I don’t even know. I can stop if you wa-”   
  
“Don’t.”

Keeping his head relaxed against the other, Fenton watched as the stars slowly filled the sky and thought it was absolutely beautiful. Nothing could have made it any better.

Until he heard Gyro slur, “Y’know what?  _ Fuck _ Mark Beaks and his stupid hipster company. He can’t keep my invention forever, and soon enough I’m gonna...program Lil Bubs t’ kick his ass.”

Fenton was trying hard not to laugh at Gyro’s tipsy ranting, which was difficult since his head was pretty swimmy too, and it felt too comfortable against Gyro’s shoulder. “Yeah!”, he managed to say, laughing only a little. “Fuck Mark with a lightbulb.”

“Noooo….poor lightbulb,” Gyro spoke with utmost sincerity, and Fenton was nearly in tears from holding back laughter.

“Who would wanna fuck him anyway? He’s the worst.”

“He tried to ask me once if I’d be down t’fuck him, and I told him he could go do it himself.” Gyro shook his head. “Stupid parrot. With his stupid poser chinos.”

“You mean his WaddlePants?” Fenton chuckled. “I think that’s what he calls them-”

“Fen, they’re fuckin’ chinos with the Waddle logo on them!” Gyro blurted. “God, what a loser. Thinking I’d ever wanna get in bed with him. I have standards!”

“Yeah! Me too!” Fenton insisted. “We’re both way hotter than him.”

“Yeah-WHAT!?” Gyro gasped, almost laughing. “Me!?”

“Yeah! You have that sexy nerd look like, you just strut in the room and whip off your glasses and your feathers fly everywhere,” Fenton described to his best ability.

Immediately Gyro tried it but instead just awkwardly dropped his glasses, resulting in Fenton laughing hysterically.

“Like that! But y’know, sexier!”

“That  _ was _ sexy.”

Immediately, they were both laughing, and Gyro whimpered in between giggles, “Okay, but has anyone ever said you look like you could be in the movies as like...the hot guy in those dramas your mother puts on your TV?”

“Telenovelas? Oh yeah, she tells me that every time I dress up.” He began to impersonate his mother. “ _ Pollito _ you could be the heartbreaker headliner for the 4 PM daytime program! Your thick,  _ handsome _ eyebrows could put all those other men to shame!” 

Gyro was almost choking from laughter. “Oh my god, you  _ could _ be one of them! You’d just need stilts so you could reach the camera.”

“I’m not that short! You’re just a fuckin’ giraffe.” Fenton then added in a whisper, “But a sexy one.”

“Wh-what?!” Gyro almost laughed again upon hearing what he said. “I’m not really sexy. I mean, at least you’re moreso than I am.”

“No.”

“Yes.”   
  
“ _ No _ .”   
  
“ _ Yes. _ ”

“Gyro?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.” And suddenly, Fenton’s bill practically crashed into Gyro’s beak.   
  
Unexpectedly, Gyro wasn’t shy about returning the kiss at all. He was immediately into it, leaning forward so his beak could better meet the other’s and bringing a hand up to run through Fenton’s feathers. The duck, pleasantly surprised by how this was going, sighed and continued the kiss to his best ability. It lasted for about thirty seconds before Gyro suddenly broke it, leaping back.   
  
“W-Wait, I’m sorry!” His face, although hard to make out since it was dark, appeared almost bright red.    
  
Fenton blinked, rather confused by the turn of events. “Gyro, what do you mean?”   
  
“I didn’t want it to come out like this! That was waaay too strong, and like, oh my god. I don’t even know if you’re into guys, and I just-”   
  
“Gyro-”   
  
“Oh, what am I gonna do? I can’t stay here!”    
  
“Gyro! I kissed you first.”   
  
“I’m gonna have to change my name and move to…..” His eyes gradually became wider as what Fenton said slowly but surely sunk in. “You….you did….do….that….wait! So yooooou….like….?” He made eye contact with the duck once more, who simply nodded his head with a smitten grin.   
  
“Yeah. I do.”

“Oh. Well then...sorry for interrupting,” Gyro choked out sheepishly and let Fenton pull him back down into another kiss. Then another and another. Soon, the kisses were making him more than a little pleasantly warm, and he didn’t mind when he felt some hands wandering. 

“Do you wanna stay?” Fenton suddenly asked, mouth against Gyro’s jaw. “The night, I mean? It’s late.”

With how good he’d suddenly found himself feeling in the other’s company and how dark the sky was, Gyro didn’t mind it. He swallowed hard, blushing brightly and gave a nod.

He couldn’t tell if he was grinning too widely when Fenton pulled him into the house.   
  
  
  
  
  
  



	14. Chapter 14

Fenton was surprised to wake up before his alarm did, roused out of a warm, pleasant sleep. It took him a second to remember the events of the night before, only startling awake when he felt a pair of limbs wrapped around him and soft feathers against him.

_ Oh that’s right. Gyro stayed the night and… _

They hadn’t gone as far as a one night fling might usually go at all, but they certainly did explore each other’s body quite a bit, enough to shed off all of their clothes. 

The other was still sound asleep, looking maybe a year or two younger than he normally did since he wasn’t scowling or wearing glasses. And the mussed up tuft of feathers atop his head was just adorable. Fenton was content to cuddle and look over his bed partner for the rest of the morning up until he heard the front door click.

“ _ Pollito _ , I’m home! You up?”

_ Oh shit. _ _   
_ __   
Almost instantly, Fenton hastily untangled himself from Gyro’s long arms to his best ability and began to shake the other awake. He meant to do it gently, but doing so was hard under these circumstances. This resulted in Gyro letting out a disgruntled groan and turning over, attempting to ignore the duck.   
  
“Gyro! Gyro, wake up!” Fenton hissed in a whisper.   
  
“Mmmmmmm,” he groaned in response, rather delirious. 

“Gyro, the lab’s on fire.”

No response.

“Gyro, Manny is selling all your stuff on the internet.”

No response.

“Gyro, you’re NOT the best inventor in the world.”

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK!” Gyro shot up with an enraged screech, only to get a hand slapped over his beak to shut it.

“Gyro, my M’ma is home, and she doesn’t know you’re here. You have to get out before she-”   


“Fenton? Honey are you talking to someone?”

“Ahhhhh! Nnno, M’ma!” he shouted through the door. “Just uh...streaming a game on Itch!” He awkwardly laughed, then hissed in Gyro’s ear, “Hide in the closet.”

“Literally or figuratively?”

“Gyro!” he hissed, shoving the chicken off the bed and pointing him to his closet full of clothes.  Immediately putting whatever shirt he could find on, he opened the door and smiled to his mother. “Morning, M’ma! How was work?”

“It...was fine…”, She warily looked around Fenton’s room from the doorway. “You act like you’re hiding something.”

“N-not at all!” He grinned nervously.

“...Interesting shirt. I don’t think I’ve seen you wear that one,  _ pollito _ .”

Fenton looked down and internally cursed for having put on Gyro’s nightshirt. “Oh! Uh...Gyro lent it to me! He had a bunch of clothes he didn’t need, so he uh...let me have this one.”

“Huh. With so much unwanted clothes, you’d think he’d wear more than that bowtie get-up,” M’ma laughed.

Gyro had to use utmost willpower not to burst out of the closet and defend his taste of clothing.   
  
“Heh, yeeeeah.” Fenton rocked on his feet, hoping she would leave his room soon.   
  
“So how was work last night?” she asked, not wanting to go away just yet. “Did you stay late again? I figured you’d be gone by now.”   
  
The duck sighed in frustration as he noticed the time. Normally, he would’ve left for work at least an hour and a half ago.    
  
“Yeah,” he lied, giggling nervously. “A little too late. I let Gyro know I would probably oversleep, so he’s not wondering where I am. He knows I’m not as good at all-nighters as he is.”   
  
“I’ve only taken a few glances at that man, and I believe you.” M’ma shook her head. “I’ve never seen circles that dark! He kind of looks like a zombie.”   
  
“M’ma!” Fenton gasped, looking to the closet as if offering Gyro a silent plea to not jump to his defense. “That’s rude!”   
  
“What? It’s not like he can hear me.” She laughed, rolling her eyes. “Well, you get ready for work. I’m gonna go iron my uniform for my shift later.”   
  
“Okay!” The duck gave a shaky thumbs-up and a nervous, wide smile.   
  
“See you tonight, Fenton!”   
  
Once she shut his door, and he heard footsteps retiring from the doorway, Fenton heaved a sigh of relief and immediately ran to his closet, freeing Gyro.   
  
“How dare she say that about the way I dress!” he almost instantly spat as the duck grabbed his arm in an attempt to yank him out. “I try hard every day to make myself as presentable as possible on top of my work, and she has the gall to say that to-”   
  
“Shhhh! You can be a grouch later! We gotta get you outta here!”    
  
“But how?” Gyro asked, picking up his pajama pants that had somehow found themselves all the way by the window.   
  
“I don’t know!” Fenton yelped in terror, following his friend to where he stood. “We just have to think of something quick because who knows when she’ll come-”   
  
“Oh,  _ pollito!  _ I almost forgot!”  
  
Acting out of impulse and as quickly as he possibly could, Fenton gave Gyro a hard shove out the window from the moment he heard his doorknob rattle. He could only hope she didn’t hear the loud squawk of protest that left the chicken’s beak as he fell.

Fenton didn’t look to see where Gyro landed, instead looking to his mother. “Yes, M’ma?”

“I brought home some  _ conchas _ from work! If you want, you can have one for breakfast.”

“O-oh!  _ Gracias _ !” He smiled nervously as she left him again, and Fenton heard his phone ring. He saw it was Gyro and picked up.

“Did you get out?”

“I need you...to get me….to a hospital,” Gyro gritted out with a whisper that was somewhere in-between angry and pained.

“Wh-What happened?”   


“‘Señor Prickly’ broke my fall…”   


Looking out the window, Fenton saw Gyro effectively hugging the cactus, holding his phone in one hand that was covered in spines.

“Help,” Gyro whimpered.

Fenton then heard his front door open. He heard his mother screaming and saw her rushing out to the cactus in horror to see a naked chicken on top. She looked at Gyro, then up at the window, where she met Fenton’s face with a very displeased look.

“Fenton, you have a lot of explaining to do!”

“Si, M’ma…”   


* * *

“Well, that was a fun way to start the morning.” Gyro was still limping a bit as he entered the lab, Fenton holding him up a bit for support.    
  
“If you’re sore, you don’t have to work today,” Fenton reassured him, successfully leading him to his desk. “You deserve a day off.”   
  
“I took one yesterday.” Gyro gritted his teeth as he lowered his body down onto his chair, wincing a little as his rather sore bottom finally made contact with the seat. “Plus, this is a walk in the park compared to being thrown in the ocean by a giant shadow hand. I’ll be fine.”   
  
Fenton shrugged, knowing it was best not to argue with him. The trip to urgent care had more or less been a very long lecture from M’ma about not sneaking around. She also threw in that his paycheck would go to making sure Señor Prickly could recover from getting landed on if she just so happened to see any damage on the plant. Thankfully, she wasn’t at all angry about Gyro spending the night. Though he was pretty sure he heard her threaten to break the chicken’s legs if he dared to break Fenton’s heart.   
  
Once he’d made sure Gyro was comfortably sitting down at his desk, the duck walked over to his own. “Now that I’ve got my disc back, I might be able to finish that project within the next week or two! Hopefully, all the bugs are worked out by now.”   
  
“Impressive.”    
  
The chicken’s rather deadpan response took Fenton off-guard. He glanced over to see him looking down at his desk, a neutral expression on his face. This confused him, especially since the two of them had been closer than ever no more than a few minutes ago.    
  
“Still down about Lil Bulb?” he asked. It was a stupid question, though. Of course he was.   
  
“Eh…..I’ll live,” Gyro sighed, starting his computer up. “Don’t worry about me.”   
  
_ It’s really hard not to when you act like this…. _   
  
Nonetheless, Fenton held his tongue and got to work on his project, not knowing that something else was eating away at Gyro’s mind for once.   
  


Gyro knew he should be happy...he liked someone, and for once, they liked him back. They even got relatively intimate. That was the most vulnerable he’d ever let himself become.

But he was wondering if it was going to end up being a mistake. What if things didn’t work out, and he ended up with a broken heart himself? He knew how quickly relationships could turn sour...too well.

He figured it would be best to act as though things were normal again. Surely Fenton would understand. He’d been in plenty of short flings, hadn’t he? That’s how most people were. What was Gyro but another one night exploration? Gyro was fine with that! 

Fenton had no idea what else could be eating at Gyro’s mind, and he really didn’t want to prod. But it did admittedly hurt that whatever affection the inventor had shown him earlier was probably a fluke...or maybe Gyro just wasn’t interested in him that way. Oh well.

He had other things to worry about, like finishing this prototype and finding a test subject.   
  


   
  



	15. Chapter 15

“Are you sure you don’t want anything while I’m out?” Fenton asked as he grabbed his jacket.

“I’m fine,” Gyro answered flatly, staring at his computer and overall looking pretty phased out. He had bags under his eyes like he usually did after long nights working, but Fenton wasn’t sure if he was actually getting much work done.

And it was really starting to worry him.

After almost a week since their night spent together, Gyro seemed to be in his own little world, hardly looking at or talking to Fenton. He didn’t even acknowledge him. He knew he was probably worried about Lil Bulb, but he couldn’t help but feel there was something else. Fenton wanted to ask if he was still on his medication, but he knew that was definitely too personal of a question. But he still really wanted to know what was going on.

Part of it was probably lack of energy. Fenton was in the same boat on that regard. So he offered to get everyone coffee during his lunch break, and Gyro had, for once in his life, declined.

“Gyro...is there anything bothering you?”

“No, there isn’t. Now please just go get your coffee,” the inventor snapped, rubbing his forehead. “...Sorry. Tired.”

“Well...maybe some caffeine would wake you up.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think that’s what I need right now,” Gyro mumbled, blinking tiredly as he stared at his computer again.

Fenton sighed and took the elevator up and out of the lab and to his car. Gyro probably needed a lot of things right now, and he wished he knew just what.  
  
Driving in the car alone was almost a kick in the face to Fenton. He didn’t even know why. It wasn’t like Gyro wanted much to do with him after he’d spent the night at his house. Maybe they’d gone a bit too far, or maybe Fenton had done something wrong afterwards. Shaking his head and cranking the radio up, the duck decided not to dwell on it.   
  
Once he’d parked behind the coffee shop and was making his way to the establishment, another sigh left Fenton’s throat as he remembered the day he got Gyro a salted caramel latte to make up for all the years he’d been banned. He wondered what the chicken would do if he brought him one now. Would it make things better? Or maybe it would wind up in his face. He wished his supposed friend was a bit more predictable. If he were, then maybe he wouldn’t be having to settle for the coffee served at the shop near Silverbeak.   
  
_Silverbeak…_   
  
A sudden thought crept into Fenton’s head. He tried to shake it off as he finally reached the door to the coffee shop, but it wouldn’t budge. Stopping in place, he looked up at the sky, wondering if Gyro would mind if he took an extra long work break and having to remind himself that it wouldn’t matter since he hardly acknowledged his presence now anyway.   
  
But that was hopefully about to change.   
  
Deciding that coffee could wait, Fenton ran back toward his car with another destination in mind: Waddle headquarters. 

* * *

The easiest course of action, Fenton figured out after lots of reading over the mapping of the building and the various security checkpoints, was to simply sneak in with the 1:00 PM tour group, since it would at least be walking past the doors of Waddle HQ within 20 minutes of the tour. After zoning out the majority of the tour guides spiel, Fenton perked up as they reached the doors of HQ. Sidestepping away from the group, he waited for them to turn the corner before he went inside. 

  
Before he opened the second set of doors, he readied himself to call for the suit in case he needed to fend off any guards or whatever nasty technology Mark Beaks had in store for intruders. With a fierce streak of determination, Fenton sprang as he shoved the doors wide open.

He stopped in his tracks at the sight of two guards being tied up with computer cables, looking quite bewildered and Mark Beaks himself screaming shrilly as he hid behind his chair from an increasingly enraged and bright red Lil Bulb. The robot was chucking pencils and erasers at him.

“Wh-?”

“Oh, thank god! Waddl-I mean, Gizmofuck! You’re here! Save me!” Mark cried, still trying in vain to avoid the angry robot. “This little nutcase can’t do anything right! I asked for important stuff, and it gave me a fuckin’ old lady playlist. I just now asked it to get me coffee, and it went nuts on me! What the heck did Screwloose do to it?!”

Fenton stared in disbelief, then grinned. “He didn’t do anything. You just messed with the wrong bulb!”

The robot immediately stopped glowing red as soon as it saw Fenton and reached its arms up as if to say ‘Take me home!’.

Smiling knowingly, Fenton walked over and picked Lil Bulb up without having to even address Mark Beaks or the guards as he walked out. Mark shakily got back in his seat and told his guards to pretend this never happened, especially not in public eye.

He was _never_ touching Gearloose’s crazy inventions again.

* * *

As Fenton sneakily slipped out of Waddles headquarters, he gave a small grin to the invention he held. Although he’d originally been rather intimidated by Lil Bulb, the two had grown fond of each other throughout their time together, so he was only a little scared that his friend’s invention would turn on him and laser him in the eyeballs. Luckily, that didn’t happen before he got to the car.  
  
He gently placed Gyro’s invention in the passenger seat, smiling as it pulled down the seatbelt, buckled it and gave him a thumbs-up. Fenton couldn’t help but chuckle at the idea of Gyro teaching it how to use a seatbelt. At least he knew the guy valued some kind of safety.   
  
Once the two of them were set, Fenton turned the key into the ignition and set off for the lab. He attempted to make small talk with Lil Bulb while they were on their way.   
  
“So how was working at Waddle?”   
  
A series of angry buzzing noises left the robot. Although the duck was a lot better at understanding Manny, he could still make out a few choice words.   
  
“Woah! Who taught you to talk like th-oh yeah, Gyro made you.” Fenton shrugged. As someone who worked under Mark Beaks in the past as well, he couldn’t really blame it.   
  
The two didn’t say much of anything else, and before they knew it, Fenton was driving up to the parking garage of the bin. He took a deep breath of preparation, mentally crossing his fingers for this whole act of kindness to actually get through to Gyro. Releasing it, he turned to Lil Bulb.   
  
“Ready to go home to your-”   
  
Before he knew it, the invention had already got to its feet and opened the door to his car. Wanting to believe it was just excited to see its beloved creator again and wasn’t either still going haywire or sneaking out to burn down half the town like it tried to do a few months ago, Fenton was quick to leap from his car as well, locking it behind him. Luckily, his overwhelming faith in others paid off because Lil Bulb was making a mad dash toward the elevator that would take it to the lab and back under Gyro’s care. 

Fenton was surprised to see Gyro slumped on his desk in a rather uncomfortable position, as if he was trying (and failing) to nap. He looked exhausted, clear enough from where Fenton stood at the elevator when it opened.   
  
Lil Bulb was already making a beeline for its creators desk. Hopping on the desk, it promptly began tapping on Gyro’s head. The inventor groaned and sat up with his eyes screwed shut.   
  
“Fenton, did you really need three hours to get coffee? I was-”

Lil Bulb suddenly kicked Gyro’s arm, making him open his eyes in surprise at the action. His face froze in open mouthed shock as he noticed his beloved creation in front of him, and then up at Fenton a second, then down at the bulb again. And suddenly, he had it sweeped up in his arms tightly, a long breath exhaling from him like a deflated balloon.

“U-uhhh sorry I took so long,” Fenton said, unable to see Gyro’s face as it was tucked downward. “I just figured I would get one of our biggest problems resolved and-”

Gyro looked up again, and Fenton suddenly noticed his eyes filling up with tears.

“G-Gyro-”

“Oh sh- don’t look at me!” the chicken whimpered, unable to stop himself from crying. The emotion of relief was too strong and making every other complicated feeling in his brain ten times more intense.

“Gyro it’s okay! I-”

“No, fuck!” Gyro cried, almost looking like he was trying to laugh as he hugged Lil Bulb. “This is so stupid! W-Why am I doing this? I hardly ever cry! I-I said, don’t look already!”

“Have a tissue!” Fenton offered, handing him the box. “It’s not stupid! You’re fine!”

“Sweet Selene,” Gyro swore, still sniffling and wiping at his eyes to try and control himself. “Th-Thank you for finding it…”

“Yeah...” Fenton smiled, putting his hand on Gyro’s arm. He frowned when he felt Gyro stiffen up a bit and pulled his arm back.

Even if Gyro was relieved at having Lil Bulb back, it didn’t seem like he was up for affection just yet.  
  
“I’ll, um….go back to my desk now.” He tried to smile, but it was hard to when he still wasn’t sure how Gyro was feeling even after he’d returned his beloved invention.   
  
“Okay,” the other spoke coldly, still taking a few deep breaths to calm himself.   
  
Swallowing the urge to hug Gyro tightly, Fenton walked back to where he worked and sat down. Eventually, he’d cast a few glances over to see his friend working away at whatever with Lil Bulb perched on his shoulder, making up for lost time. The sight made him want to grin, but he just couldn’t. Not after the way Gyro was acting.   
  
At least the prototype for his invention should be up for its final testing stages, he realized. That was one thing to look forward to, unless something messed it up too.

  

 


	16. Chapter 16

“FINALLY!”   
  
The yell shocked Gyro so that he jumped out of his chair, thinking something serious had prompted his coworker to scream so loudly. He gasped as he felt Lil Bulb tumble off his shoulder, quickly regaining his senses enough to bend over and pick his invention up before it fell to the floor. Manny, who had also been taken off-guard, tapped out an expletive.   
  
“Sorry,” Fenton’s meek voice piped up.   
  
“What was that all about?” Gyro grumbled, placing Lil Bulb on his desk and taking a seat once more.   
  
“Gyro!” The duck’s ebullient tone returned. “It’s my project! I think I’m finally finished!”   
  
The chicken raised his eyebrows in mild interest. “Oh. Good for you.”   
  
Fenton frowned. Things were still a bit weird between the two of them, but he was anticipating Gyro to be at least a little proud of him. Maybe he was just grumpy from being surprised.   
  
“Yeah. I just gotta run one more test to make sure it works, and if it does, then it’s a done deal!” He sighed longingly. “My first solo project, finished….it’s a dream come true!”

“So what final test does it require?” Gyro glanced over, not sounding overly enthused.

“Well, ah...I have to test it on someone. And then it’ll read over all the brain activity and show what they’re thinking.”

“Oh. Interesting,” Gyro responded, looking at his computer again.

“Maybe Launchpad can be my test dummy again.” Fenton walked over to the coffee machine for a quick break.

When Fenton was away from his invention, Lil Bulb hopped down from its spot on Gyro’s desk and gave its creator a dirty look. Ever since it returned, all the scientist had been doing was lamenting and whining at night about how his life was a conflicted mess and he didn’t know what was going on in his head. Lil Bulb could only stand so much venting, and if it wanted to get Gyro to shut up about his stupid organic problems, it would have to take matters into its own hands. Because Fenton sure as hell wouldn’t.

Grabbing the scanning apparatus from Fenton’s invention, it aimed it at Gyro’s head and fired just as the other scientist turned around from the coffee machine.

“Hey, no! Don’t do that!” he yelped at the robot, only to see the machine already working away at the thoughts in Gyro’s mind.

Gyro turned his head. “Wh- Lil Bulb, what are you doing?! Put that thing down!”

The machine made a satisfying ‘ding’ just as Lil Bulb dropped the scanner, and Gyro grabbed the robot to scold it. “I apologize. It really should know better than to touch things it doesn’t own.” He glared at the robot and sat at his desk. “...And did that thing just scan my brain?”

Fenton saw the sheets of paper spitting out of the printing slot with results on them. He looked to Gyro’s bewildered face and gave a nervous smile, shaking his head. “Nope! It’s all blank! Guess I forgot the ink cartridge in it.”

Gyro looked a little relieved. “Huh. It’s always something.” He shook his head and looked at his own work again.

Fenton, rather glad that Gyro wasn’t nosy, picked up the sheets of paper, shoving them in his desk to look at later...when Gyro wasn’t around.  
  
After a while, Gyro got to his feet and stretched. “Well, looks like I’m going down to the mansion,” he sighed. “The urchins broke Mr. McDuck’s TV.”   
  
“No kidding?” Fenton couldn’t help but chuckle.   
  
“Yep. They didn’t say who, but I have a strong feeling it was either the green one or Webby because they’re my favorites.”   
  
“Sounds in-character. I hope it goes well.” The duck gave him a gentle smile, but unsurprisingly, it wasn’t returned.   
  
“Yeah. See you later.” And with the deadpan reply, Gyro pressed the elevator button and was soon on his way up.   
  
Although he was a bit frustrated and upset by the exchange, there was a plus of the inventor being away for a while. Fenton’s eyes wandered to the drawer that contained the results of his machine’s first test. A feeling in his gut was telling him not to do this. Technically, it would be a little invasive. However, he could tell himself that it was just to make sure his machine was working. It wouldn’t make him feel much better since he knew that wasn’t the case, but maybe it would calm his nerves a bit.   
  
Gulping down any reservations, he fished his hand inside the drawer and pulled out the papers. Taking a deep breath and trying to calm his pounding heart so his hands would stop shaking, Fenton began to read.   
  


‘WORKING ON PROJECTS---WORRIED THEY WILL FAIL--- A FAILURE CONSTANTLY---’

 

‘LITTLE BULB IS SAFE---RELIEVED IT IS SAFE--- LOVE IT FOR NOT BEING A FAILURE’

 

‘FENTON---CARES ABOUT ME---LIKE---I LIKE FENTON---FENTON DOES LIKE ME’

 

Fenton paused, grinning and blushing at what he read and flipped to the next page.

 

‘I LOVE FENTON---I LOVE FENTON---I LOVE-’

 

As he read onto the next line, his smile dropped slightly at the next result.

 

‘I AM AFRAID---I LOVE FENTON---I AM AFRAID’

 

‘MOM LOVED DAD---THAT ENDED BADLY---HURT---HURT---HURT’

 

‘I LOVE FENTON---DO NOT HURT FENTON---IF I LOVE FENTON WE WILL HURT LATER’

 

‘FENTON DESERVES BETTER---USELESS---I AM USELESS---I AM NOTHING---I AM NOTHING---’

 

‘WORTHLESS---NOTHING---NO FAMILY---NOBODY WANTS ME FOR FAMILY---’

 

‘I LOVE FENTON---I AM AFRAID---’

 

‘------------------WANT ORANGE JUICE---’

 

  
  
Before Fenton even had time to process what he was reading, the elevator opened, and he jumped in surprise.   
  
“Never mind,” Gyro groaned. “The red one got it fixed before I even made it down there. How does he learn those things?”   
  
As quickly as he could, Fenton shoved all evidence that he’d been reading Gyro’s thoughts back into the drawer and slammed it shut, greeting his coworker with a very nervous grin. “Oh, okay! Welcome back!”   
  
Not buying it, Gyro looked him up and down with suspicion. “What’s gotten into you?”   
  
“Me? Oh, nothing! Just doing…..science!” He gave a shaky thumbs-up.   
  
The chicken raised an eyebrow. “Science, huh?”   
  
“Yep! Good ol’ science!”   
  
After staring at him for a few more long moments, Gyro sighed and rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Have fun.”

Fenton gave a weak chuckle. “W-will do! U-uh….actually, I think I’m going to go on my lunch break now.”

“At 10:30 in the morning?”

“Perfect time for brunch!” Fenton smiled awkwardly. “Right?”

“...Sure.” Gyro looked back down at his work, not particularly interested. “Don’t take too long though.”

“Don’t worry! Hey, uhhh...do you want anything? Maybe some orange juice?”

“Now that you mention it...I would actually like some orange juice. Weird.”

“Ha ha, yeah! Weird!” Fenton headed for the elevator, but instead of going to the parking garage, he went straight up to where Scrooge’s office was. He took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

“Come in!” he heard the cheery Scottish voice beckon.

The billionaire was currently in the middle of stacking various coins in a way that Fenton wasn’t sure was measured by, but it seemed to be systematic.

“Ah! Crackshell! What can I do for you?” Scrooge peeked over the wall of stacks.

“H-Hi, Mr. McDuck! I didn’t know if it was a good time, but I was wondering if I could talk to you about Dr. Gearloose.”

“Oh, curse m’ kilts! What has that loon done now? It can come out of his paycheck, I promise-”

“N-No! He hasn’t done anything bad!” Fenton jumped in. “I… was just sort of wondering if you knew anything about what’s going on with his parents. I uh...overheard him saying something about them, and I guess I just was curious as to...if you knew anything that might keep me in the loop.”

Scrooge’s scowl relaxed suddenly into a sympathetic furrow, and he shook his head. “Lad, I know plenty, but it’s not exactly a pretty story.”

Fenton frowned slightly. “W-Would asking you about it open up a can of worms?”

“An industrial drum.” Scrooge settled back in his chair with a sigh and gestured for Fenton to sit in the chair across from him. “It all started back when I was looking for new interns to hire at McDuck Enterprises….”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A HUGE thank you to our guest artist and friend oschocodee for their art for this chapter!


	17. Chapter 17

When Scrooge had been touring around the set of new interns, Gearloose had been the one who stuck out like a sore thumb. He stood six inches shorter than the others but somehow looked like the personification of a tall, thin wire. While most of the interns were dressed in suits and ties or business skorts, the young chicken was in an ill-fitted sweater and slacks that appeared two sizes too small. The feathers atop his head looked like he’d taken scissors to them that morning without much experience, and yellow ones that designated puberty were still visible on his body about five years later than one should expect.

When he introduced himself to the others, he spoke with a visible, involuntary crack coming through, making him sound mousy. It made a few of the other interns giggle. Scrooge sighed, knowing this kid probably wasn’t going to last long at all. He was the youngest anyway, only about 17.

“Any questions about security operations in the bin?” Scrooge asked the group of rather bored looking interns.

Gearloose raised his stringbean of a hand.

“A-Actually sir, I did notice something! On the second set of doors, I saw an area where you could have a breach in security,” the intern stuttered out, awkward and lanky in his stance.

Scrooge cocked an eyebrow. “Really? Tell me, lad.”

The chicken began pointing out various intricate details of the security system, some that Scrooge hadn’t even mentioned during his spiel. And while it did seem to bore the other interns, it was a very astute assessment, and Scrooge couldn’t help but be a slight bit impressed.

“-And well, usually, if you want to ensure better security, you should use an 8 digit assigned PIN to each card instead of a 4 digit one!”

“Hm! Quite an observation!” Scrooge nodded with an interested look and continued the tour. The other interns gave annoyed looks to Gearloose, who shrunk back to the end of the line in embarrassment.  
  
The next stop for the interns was the lab, probably what they were most excited to finally see. Although he didn’t want to, Scrooge decided that shoving six scientists and himself into a tiny elevator probably wasn’t the best way to go about entering the lab. Therefore, they would have to use the stairs.   
  
As the group traveled down the lengthy staircase, Scrooge heard a small yelp from behind. He looked to see that Gearloose had tripped, and nobody was really doing much but staring daggers at him and trying to pretend he wasn’t there. Frowning, he watched as the scrawny chicken got to his feet, dusted off his pants and gave the surrounding interns a meek apology which they pretended to not even hear. It was almost sad to watch this guy flounder around as he was. Scrooge knew he probably wasn’t cut out for what he would be doing, but to send him home seemed like such a cruel fate. He didn’t want to crush any dreams today, especially not someone’s who seemed to be having a difficult time already.   
  
“Ah! This is it!” he announced proudly when they’d all reached the door that would open into the lab. Grabbing its handle, Scrooge pulled it to reveal what it was hiding. “Welcome to the McDuck Enterprises underwater la-”   
  
“OH MY GOSH, IT’S BEAUTIFUL!”   
  
The sudden awestruck cry caught Scrooge off-guard, and he was found even moreso when he felt something quite small barrel past him with vigor and force for its size, as were the other interns. He was even more shocked when he realized it was no other than the shy little Gearloose kid, looking at his new surroundings with wide, sparkling eyes.   
  
“It’s even more impressive than it is in the pictures!” he said with a beaming smile, running over to a large tubal structure. “This is one of the new model of turbines you created to be powered by the currents in sea-water, isn’t it!?”

Scrooge couldn’t help but smile in boast. “That it is, lad! And it’s powering this very lab as we speak!”

“I’ve been dying to know how it works in comparison to a wind turbine! I made a small prototype based off of a windmill back home to charge an electric scooter, but...sea water! I’ve got to know how that even gets done!” The intern was jabbering a mile a minute, both to himself and whoever was in the room.

Scrooge had an idea and looked to the other scientists. “I’m sure they can show you.”

The scientists all shrugged. “We wouldn’t mind,” one of them spoke up, inviting Gearloose over to the controls of the turbines.

Glad he found a good fit for the clumsy intern, Scrooge decided to take the rest of the interns on the tour’s remainder, assigning them to various departments. About an hour later, he was called back down to the laboratory by one of the scientists who said it was urgent. The billionaire was almost expecting a disaster having been caused but instead entered to the sight of the lab team all huddled around the table in hushed silence as Gearloose applied his hands to the turbine.

“And now, it should be able to power the entire complex with half the amount of energy!” the intern announced, looking excitable at his discovery. The other scientists had their mouths agape.

“How did we not figure that out?” one whispered to the other.

“This kid is going to put us out of a job,” another muttered to his colleague, still amazed.

“What did you do over here, Gearloose?” Scrooge decided to ask, hands folded behind his back while he observed the changes made to the invention.

“N-Nothing really! I just circumvented the tubing system in the turbine so it could power your offices too….” The chicken’s voice trailed off. “I-I know interns aren’t really allowed to touch stuff down here, but-”

“But y’did it anyway,” Scrooge answered flatly. “Heh. Y’know, I did the same thing when I was younger and working in a factory. ‘Course, when I did it, it resulted in chaos, so I think you’re a step above me, lad.”

Gearloose fiddled with his glasses, looking more than a little flustered.

“Tell you what. I’ll let you spend your internship down here with my science team and give you permission to have more hands on work on one condition.”

“Y-Yes sir?”

“Get a proper haircut! Blazes, y’ look like you put scissors to your own head blindfolded!” Scrooge spoke, looking exasperated.

Gearloose flushed brightly in embarrassment, but he definitely was still grinning from ear to ear.

* * *

“He started out a lot like you.” Scrooge smiled wryly at Fenton as he continued to stack more coins. “Clumsy and always trying to please. I had to buy him a proper scientists coat since nothing he wore to work ever fit!”

“Yeah, I can imagine that,” Fenton laughed. “So uh...where did his parents come into this?”

Scrooge sighed. “I’m gettin’ to that.”

* * *

Gearloose would show up bright and early every day during his internship, eager to work with the team of scientists. And in spite of Scrooge’s fear of the chicken’s awkwardness causing trouble, the science team seemed to quickly warm up to the bright lad. But even in the joy and excitement that was inventing and experimenting in the lab, Scrooge could sense there was something else going on with the promising intern. He never seemed too excited about going home.

One day, when Scrooge was meeting with his science team, Gearloose received a call for him forwarded by the secretary.

“H-Hello?” Gearloose spoke. “Dad, now isn’t a good time...w-what? I haven’t seen mom all summer! I don’t know what she’s….I tried calling her, but she won’t-look, I’m sorry. Just be quiet and call me _Gyro_ for once, and I’ll tell you all I-what?”   
  
Scrooge watched as the kid talked to whoever was on the other line, raising an eyebrow in curiosity when he detected a harshness in Gearloose’s voice.   
  
“N-No!” he continued. “I can’t come now. I have work....huh? Of course it’s important! Dad, please, just….no! I’m not coming home! I don’t care if it’s been weeks! I’m not gonna let you do this to me anymore!”   
  
The billionaire’s eyes shot open wide when he heard what Gearloose confessed to. Weeks? Where had this poor kid been sleeping?   
  
“No! No! Ugh, just…. _leave me alone!_ ”   
  
With the final passionate statement, Gearloose slammed the phone down and almost instantly buried his face in his hands. It wasn’t hard to tell that he was crying.   
  
Sighing, Scrooge knew it would be best if he approached the intern. He walked over to him as quietly as possible, speaking to get his attention when he was within earshot. “Everything okay, lad?”   
  
Gearloose looked up in fright, tears fresh in his eyes. He looked absolutely mortified that Scrooge had found him in such a state, and it made the duck’s heart break.   
  
“M-Mister McDuck!” the intern yelped, wiping his eyes. “What do you need?”   
  
“I asked if you were okay. I don’t need anything.”   
  
“Of course I’m okay, sir!” Gearloose forced a shy laugh. “Are you sure there’s not-”   
  
“I heard that phone call.”

“O-Oh, it’s nothing! My parents just recently split up a-and they….” Gearloose swallowed hard, trying to stop himself from tearing up any worse. “They really-”

“They’ve put you in the middle of it, haven’t they?”

The young chicken went slack and nodded, looking quite ashamed of it.

Scrooge sighed again. “I’m sorry to hear that. It’s always rough when these things happen.”

“Y-Yeah,” Gearloose mumbled, still looking incredibly upset. “But really, don’t worry about me. I’ve got everything taken care of, and-”

“Do you need a place to stay?”

“Nah, I’ve got a place!” Gearloose laughed awkwardly. Only then did Scrooge notice the sleeping bag and pillow hidden under one of the lab tables in the corner.

“...Is that yours?” Scrooge glanced over, looking slightly unimpressed, and the intern immediately began fumbling for an answer, bright red and nervous.

“Lad, you know you can’t sleep in the laboratory.”

Scrooge’s heart almost broke when the poor intern began to cry again.

“I don’t know what to do!” Gearloose had whimpered. “I can’t go back home, and I can’t stay anywhere else! I spent my last savings on my T-shots and food for the last two months, and I don’t even have a degree yet!”  
  
Seeing the young chicken break down over this was too much. Scrooge frowned, knowing he had to do something he’d normally not consider doing for anyone, much less a scrappy little intern. There was just something different about Gearloose that thawed his normally cold heart.   
  
He gave the intern a warm smile. “If you need a place to stay, I’m sure I have an available room in the mansion.”   
  
Gearloose looked up at Scrooge, eyes widening as he took in what his boss had said. “Y-You mean….?”   
  
“Sure, why not?” Scrooge shrugged. “Half of those rooms are just collecting dust anyway.”   
  
“O-Oh!” The young intern’s eyes lit up, and a relieved smile made its way across his beak. “Thank you so much, Mr. McDuck! You’re the best! H-How can I ever repay you?”   
  
“Lad, ya don’t have to!” The billionaire shook his head. “You’re already working for me.”   
  
“But this is a big thing, sir! There has to be something I can do in exchange. Is there anything you want me to build? I can start working overtime, or I can-”   
  
“Gearloose!” The intern stopped talking as soon as Scrooge spoke, and the duck almost instantly felt bad for raising his voice when the other was already so nervous. He heaved another sigh. “Look, you can’t let people walk all over you! Not even your family.”

“O-Oh.”

“You have a sharper mind than most people twice your age. Your knowledge is power. Own it.”

“Y-Yes sir.”

“I’ll have Duckworth escort you to the mansion at the end of the workday. And lad?”

“Yes sir?”

“Get rid of the sleeping bag. It smells like old saltwater taffy!”

“Y-Yes, Mr. McDuck…” Gearloose was still sheepish, but Scrooge could only hope in time that would change.

  
 

* * *

“After the internship, he ended up joining my science team part-time while he finished school for his doctorate,” Scrooge mused. “Eventually, he got here full-time, and he’s been the one scientist I’ve kept on through all the years. And it seems he really took my advice to heart…”   
  
He then shook his head. “A little too much, I think. He definitely doesn’t let anyone walk over him anymore, but he’s got thirty foot walls all around him instead. His parents’ whole feud made him afraid to get close to people. After a year of living in the mansion, he suddenly decided to move out, and he’s been in that sorry excuse of a building in the city ever since.”

“Wow...that’s...a lot,” Fenton wheezed, “but...that does sort of help me understand Dr. Gearloose a little better.”

“Bah, there’s still a lot about that man I don’t understand.” Scrooge shook his head. “Like why he needs to wear pants.”

Fenton held back an awkward laugh. “Right...well, thank you, Mr. McDuck.”

“Anytime, Crackshell. By the way, when you go back down, tell Gyro, for the fiftieth time, to stop having his mail come to my mansion!”

“Yes sir!”

 


	18. Chapter 18

Fenton spent an entire night mulling over everything Scrooge revealed to him about Gyro Gearloose and how much it truly affected their interactions. Gyro loved him deep inside. There was the scientific proof. But he wasn’t going to say it outright like a normal person, and Fenton could accept that for now. However, he still wanted Gyro to know it was okay and that at this point, he was very sure he loved him back.

Fenton loved Gyro’s sincerity when it came to the things he was passionate about and how he took shit from nobody. He loved whenever he let his guard down when they were alone and just let himself laugh and be the dork he truly was. Fenton didn’t know if it was a love that would last a lifetime just yet. Hopefully it was, but for now, he really just wanted to give it a shot. Gyro was worth it. 

He just needed to tell him.

The duck was still thinking over what to do as he came down into the lab that morning, earlier than usual in his inability to sleep. As he grew closer to his workplace, he swore he heard the sound of water running. Fenton followed it until he reached the emergency wash station and pulled back the curtain, wondering if someone might have left it on overnight.

Gyro screeched at the sudden intrusion and yanked the curtain back around the emergency shower stall, yelling and cursing at Fenton to leave. The duck scrambled away with apologies frantically exiting his bill, and his face turned bright red. How was he supposed to know Gyro was showering in there? Who even used that thing?!

When the inventor returned from the area wrapped in a towel, Fenton tried to avert his gaze from Gyro’s unamused glare. Grabbing his clothes off his desk, he walked out of sight again, returning several minutes later freshly dry and fluffy.

“Do you normally use the emergency shower?” Fenton had to ask.

“No! Well….maybe! I mean….they shut my water off, okay!?” Gyro snapped, feathers puffing up further in his irritation.

“Alright, alright,” Fenton spoke, trying not to laugh at the other’s appearance. “Do you always get that fluffy after a shower? You look like a cloud!”

“None of your business!” Gyro walked back toward the lab, trying to smooth his feathers.   
  
Fenton clasped his fingers together, trying to think of what to say now that he had his friend’s attention. “Listen, Gyro, I-”   
  
“I know, I know,” he cut him off. “You’re going tell me you figured out the invention or something. Well, good job. Now let me get back to work.”   
  
Although he expected a reply like that, it still made Fenton’s heart sink. “No, actually. I-”   
  
“Save it,” Gyro ordered, finally reaching his desk. “I’m already behind on schedule.”   
  
The duck sighed, walking slowly back to his own workplace. Perhaps it would be best if he waited it out. He didn’t want to make Gyro too stressed to work, especially since he knew the inventor had been lately.    
  
As the hours passed, Fenton tried his hardest to work out any kinks in his new machine. It worked pretty flawlessly when Lil Bulb tested it on Gyro, but he wanted to make sure it was performing at its best ability. Actually, there might be some benefits of running it through another test. He would just need to find someone else to use it on.    
  
Gyro would definitely be unwilling. Launchpad was typically the go-to for these things, but he was out adventuring with the rest of the McDuck family. If only Manny’s inner working were less confusing….or frightening.   
  
He stared into his coffee and sighed. However, upon seeing his reflection, Fenton got an idea. Glancing at Gyro and then at the machine, he realized he may just be able to accomplish two things at once with it.

Fenton closed his eyes to concentrate his thoughts as best he could when he turned the machine on himself and didn’t open them until he heard it complete its scan. The minute it took to wait for the results to print was cruelly slow and anxious, but eventually, they popped out of the other end. Carefully pulling the stack of papers into his hands, Fenton readied himself to see what they said.

 

‘HOPE MACHINE WORKS---HOPE IT WORKS---OH GOOD IT WORKS---’

 

‘GYRO---TELL GYRO I LOVE HIM---I LOVE GYRO TOO--- I LOVE HIM TOO---I KNOW HE LOVES ME---’

 

‘I KNOW HE LOVES ME---I KNOW HE IS SCARED---I KNOW GYRO IS SCARED OF BAD THINGS HAPPENING---’

 

‘WILL NOT LET ANYONE HURT GYRO---PROMISE---WILL NOT HURT GYRO---I KNOW GYRO WILL NOT HURT ME---LOVE GYRO---’

 

‘I CAN TAKE IT SLOW---TAKE THINGS SLOW--- STILL LOVE GYRO--- WILL NOT HURT HIM LIKE HIS FAMILY DID---’

 

‘GYRO DESERVES LOVE---I DESERVE LOVE---I LOVE GYRO---GYRO LOVES ME---I LOVE GYRO---GYRO LOVES ME---’

 

‘DO NOT WANT GYRO SAD---DO NOT WANT GYRO SCARED---I WANT GYRO HAPPY---’

 

‘I LOVE GYRO---GYRO LOVES ME---’

 

‘LOVE---’

 

Drawing in a deep breath, Fenton felt his cheeks reddening at his own thoughts. It definitely wasn’t as clear as saying it himself, and it was clearly written by a robot. But in a weird way, maybe that was best to get it across to Gyro.   
  
Taking a minute to calm himself before he approached, Fenton slowly walked over to Gyro’s desk where the inventor was working away diligently. He swallowed and was about to speak up when something just prompted him to place the stack of papers straight on Gyro’s desk, right on top of whatever he was working on, and turn on his heel to speed-walk right to the elevator with the intentions to hide. The scientist wanted to squeal like a giddy schoolgirl who dumped a letter in a locker but also vomit in terror when he remembered that sooner or later, Gyro was going to come looking for him.   
  
When the elevator opened, he was ready to make a mad dash for anywhere but the lab and almost succeeded in stepping out of the bin when the sound of a door slamming startled him. Jumping slightly, Fenton turned around and instantly froze in fear when he saw Gyro, standing in the doorway of the stairwell and desperately trying to catch his breath. The emotion on his face was completely taken over by the exhaustion he felt from probably dashing up the stairs faster than he ever has in his life.   
  
Fenton was still planning to run while he had the chance, but Gyro’s voice stopped him.   
  
“Don’t….move…..a…..m-muscle, oh g-god; I’m out of shape.”    
  
After a few more seconds of breathing heavily while Fenton awkwardly stayed in place, Gyro felt composed enough to approach him. He did so as rapidly as he possibly could, and the expression on his face remained pretty emotionless. When he finally made his way over to the duck, he simply looked down at him with the same neutral stare and adjusted his glasses. Fenton felt his blood run cold in anticipation.    
  
“G-Gyro….” He tried to say more, but it came out in a small whimper before dying in his throat.   
  
“Fenton.”   
  
The two kept eye contact for a few more seconds, Gyro staring blankly and Fenton keeping his nervous grin. Finally, Fenton decided someone needed to speak.   
  
“So, uh…..if this is about what I put on your desk, which it probably is, I just need to tell you that I- _ mmph! _ ”   
  
He was cut off when Gyro rapidly leaned over just enough to pull him by the shirt collar into a rather passionate kiss. Fenton’s brain shut off for about three seconds, but the instant he had one ounce of clarity, he let his hands wrap around Gyro and rub his back. He felt a hand running through the crest on his head, and he was eager to deepen the kiss long enough until they had to break for air. Once they’d both gotten a few breaths out, they almost instantly started kissing again. And again. And again. And again.

After about three minutes, they both finally pulled back, cheeks flushed. They were staring at each other, almost in disbelief.

“D-Did that really...just happen?” Fenton mumbled.

“Pretty sure,” Gyro answered, voice flat but far-off. He definitely was dizzy on emotions.

“So...you read the...?”

“Yeah. I read them…” He absent-mindedly nodded, still trying to process everything that just happened. He didn’t know exactly what overcame him to run up the stairs and kiss Fenton, but it certainly had not left him yet.

“I know you didn’t want to tell me about everything going on with you, but-”

“Forget it,” Gyro breathed, going in for another quick kiss. “You’d have figured it out later anyway. You’re smart enough. This just...made it so much easier.” He shook his head, running his hand through Fenton’s tuft of hair a few times.

“Oh...okay. I’m glad then.” Fenton smiled peacefully, standing on his tiptoes to get another kiss. “So...are you going to get super annoyed if I tell everyone we’re dating?”

“Maybe. But not because we’re dating! Because we have to fill out those stupid workplace relationship acknowledgement forms that are nothing but bureaucratic racket pushed by companies, and Scrooge McDuck is part of that,” Gyro snorted. “We’re both busy enough as it is! I don’t want to have to fill out more damn paperwork.”

“Okay, that’s fair. Me neither,” Fenton snickered. “How about we keep it secret for the next month or two, and then we can just wait until we’re bored enough for that paperwork to get it taken care of?”

“Sounds ideal.” Gyro allowed his beak to curl into a smile for a few seconds but then yelped in surprise as Fenton grabbed him. He pulled him into his arms, lifting him off the floor. “Wh-What are you doing!?”

“I’m carrying you back down to the lab like a knight in shining armor!” Fenton announced as he held Gyro in his arms bridal style, walking them both toward the staircase.

“N-Not down the stairs, you’re not!” Gyro screeched. “If you trip, and we fall and break every bone in our bodies, I’m not kissing you for a whole week!”

“Alright! Fine,” Fenton chuckled. He pressed the elevator button, stepping inside.

Once they were inside, a smirk made its way across Fenton’s bill. “Y’know...nobody else is here right now. We could probably stay in this elevator a little longer than needed…” He glanced to Gyro as he halted from pressing the button to go down.

“...That’s a very good observation.” Gyro grinned right back before pulling Fenton into another eager kiss as the doors to the elevator closed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, guess it's time to tell you guys that next chapter is the epilogue, thus ending this particular tale. We both wanna thank you all for reading, and your kind and engaged responses. We're still writing more and more for these characters so keep your eyes peeled!


	19. Epilogue

“Awww, Gyro! Are those for me?”

Gyro was surprised to hear Fenton’s affectionate voice as he walked in carrying a bouquet of flowers, and as cute as he looked, he couldn’t lie. “No, sorry. Launchpad asked me to put these on the new intern’s desk.”

Fenton tried not to look too disappointed. “Oh...well, I hope Fethry likes them! Launchpad seems pretty fond of him.”

“More than a little fond,” Gyro answered wryly, placing the bouquet on Fethry’s desk and walking over to his own. “Wait, that reminds me! I _ do _ have flowers for you! I bought them last week and was waiting to give them to you later….”    
  
Gyro’s proud smile instantly deflated as he pulled out the dried, dead flowers from the drawer of his desk. He sucked in his cheeks. “Ohhhh, right. You’re supposed to water these things.”

“Aaand I think you’re supposed to buy them to give to someone within the day,” Fenton reminded him awkwardly, taking the dead bouquet and kissing Gyro’s cheek. “But it’s the thought that counts.”

He knew Gyro was still kind of new to being romantic, even after a couple months of dating. It was a learning curve. But he’d at least made progress beyond what Fenton expected within this timeframe.

“By the way, don’t forget that I’m taking you apartment hunting during our lunch break!” Fenton cheerfully said to Gyro as he got settled back at his desk.

“I can do it myself you know,” Gyro grumbled a little, tapping his pencil.

“Not so sure on that. You live in a building that looks ready to fall down. Besides, uh...you’d want a place that we could uh...both fit in, right?”

Gyro blushed a little. “Fair point.”

“Speaking of your nightmare apartment, did you manage to get any more packing done?”

“I put the cat in a box.”

Fenton looked absolutely horrified until Gyro held his hands up. “It was a joke!”

“Oh, good!” he breathed in relief. “But I will buy a carrier for Gordito if you absolutely insist on stealing him for the long haul.”

“You named him?”

“You didn’t have a name for him, I have no idea what the lady who first had him used, and he’s very chubby. So...Gordito works.”   
  
“Hmmmm. Fair enough.” Gyro shrugged, stretching. “We should probably start cleaning my old place up.”   
  
“But we haven’t found a new one yet,” Fenton said with a frown.   
  
“Yeah, but it might take a year.”    
  
“Haha, yeah,” the duck laughed dismissively but stopped when he felt Gyro’s rather intense stare.    
  
“No. I’m being serious. It literally might take a year.”   
  
Thinking back to the times he’d spent the night at Gyro’s, Fenton realized that his boyfriend wasn’t exactly telling a lie. It had gotten significantly more messy since the first time he’d laid eyes on it, and unfortunately, he tended to contribute to that.   
  
“Yeeeeah,” Fenton answered. “Maybe we should start on that tonight.”   
  
“Or we could go home early and start on it now before we have to go look at apartments,” the chicken suggested.   
  
“Really?”   
  
“Why not? It’s not like we have much of anything to do here,” Gyro informed him. “Plus, we have both Manny and Finnley to look after the lab now.”   
  
“Um, I think his name is Fethry,” Fenton piped up, but he was ignored.

“You drive,” Gyro called out as he tossed Fenton’s car keys in his general direction, unaware that they smacked a desk lamp and into a wastebin as he stepped on the elevator. Fenton tried not to laugh too much as he rooted his keys out of the trash and followed his boyfriend.

When they got to the apartment, Fenton could hardly tell that much progress, if any, had been made on making it less of a mess, even with the packing boxes stacked by the wall. But his attention was quickly averted by the sensation of a delighted cat rubbing against his legs, and he was quick to give Gordito lots of cuddles as he scooped him up. Gyro rolled his eyes and got to grabbing at random boxes. 

“I think I’ll put clothes in this one,” Gyro mused aloud as he yanked open drawers to empty them.

“You own more than the ones on your back?” Fenton teased as he put the cat down.

“Of course I do. You’ve seen me wear more outfits! You’ve even helped me take them off,” Gyro teased right back.

“Riiiight,” Fenton snickered. “And I think I see some of those outfits on the floor still.”    
  
He got on his knees to look under the rickety old frame of Gyro’s bed for any errant clothes. Fenton saw a lot of random junk, having to pull most of it out from under the bed.“Books go in the box over by the counter, right?”

“Yes please,” Gyro hummed as he eyed some of the shirts he was pulling out of the drawers. “Huh...I don’t remember buying half of these.”

“Start wearing them, and you’ll remember,” Fenton joked, putting things into piles for packing. “I’m glad I was able to convince my M’ma that I should probably move out.”

“I’m glad too, though I was scared she was going to knife me in my sleep after you talked to her about it...no offense,” Gyro mumbled.

“None taken. I wouldn’t worry though. I think she’s taken a liking to you.” Fenton got up a second to pull his boyfriend into a delighted kiss. “She doesn’t suspect you of trying to steal anything from our bathroom anymore.”

“Oh, good because I totally want to catch her off-guard and steal a candle.”

“Don’t,” Fenton laughed and got back to clearing out the bottom of the bed. He was about to grab a stack of books when he saw some unique shape resting behind it and carefully began trying to pull whatever it was out from under the bed.

The duck finally got it loose and held up what he could now see was a large stringed instrument. “What in the world is this?”

“Rosie!” Gyro looked surprisingly delighted and grabbed it from Fenton’s hands. “I’ve been looking everywhere for this thing!”

“Is that a banjo!?”

“Yes!” Gyro was brushing the dust off it gently, examining the strings.

“You own a banjo? Named  _ Rosie _ !?”

“It’s actually Rosalind, and yes, this is mine.” Gyro rolled his eyes slightly, putting the banjo on his bed.

“You _play a_ _banjo_!?” Fenton was genuinely surprised and trying not to laugh. “How come I never knew about this?”

“I don’t have to tell you everything,” Gyro huffed, cheeks turning pink. “It’s...therapeutic.”

“Maybe you can play it for me sometime?” Fenton suggested with a hopeful smile.

The blush didn’t leave the inventor’s cheeks as he hid the slightest upturn of his mouth. “...We’ll see.”

 

**The End**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus concludes "Covalent Bond". Thank you to everyone who took the time to read it and write reviews for it, and all the kudos and bookmarks! We're so glad you all liked it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! We hope you enjoy this story, as we've both enjoyed writing it a lot! I've also been doing a couple of illustrations for some of the chapters. Not all of the chapters will have an illustration, but some at least! - Barracuda


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